I had pulled off to the side of a rural road to attend to an urgent health referral while doing farm visits with a new work collaborator for Huertas, our kitchen garden project. The farmworker in need of support described ongoing stomach pain. He didn’t have a fever or localized pain where his appendix should be but he was groaning with discomfort while we were on the phone. It was a Friday afternoon and he did not have a primary care provider or transportation. I spoke to him about the three levels of care: primary, urgent and emergency care and explained that the current options for same day care would be urgent care or the emergency department – both located 30 minutes from his home. He said he didn’t think he had a life threatening illness but was really worried and, when asked, he said he felt he needed to be seen the same day. He could get a ride later in the evening when a co-worker got off work which would limit his options to the Emergency Department. The day before, we had put out a last minute request to our health access volunteers to get a newborn to a blood draw appointment to check potentially dangerous bilirubin levels and had received two offers. I called the one who had not transported earlier in the day and stars seemed to align. She was willing to switch up her afternoon plans to get the farmworker to urgent care and back home.
My passenger was astonished to learn we have a small but committed group of volunteers across different areas of the state who are willing to be on a list of people we can email, call or text to ask about their availability to transport im/migrants (most often people they have never met) to health appointments. Over the next month, 9 volunteers transported to 18 different appointments, making it possible for clients from mere days old to 40 years old to receive needed health care services. While we try to give as much advanced notice as possible of upcoming needs to the 30 to 40 active volunteers who have slogged through a lengthy application process, we are often looking for support for health needs that need to be attended to within the week and sometimes the same or next day.
Vermont is full of kind and generous people who make the state and people’s lives in it better through volunteerism and philanthropy. Health Access Volunteers through Bridges to Health are among the most rare and cherished volunteers, individuals who are so committed to health care for all that they are willing to take on a role that is irregular, hard to plan for, often requires driving long distances, can easily take half a day especially if picking up a prescription is needed, and often involves inviting ill or injured strangers into your car with whom you can’t communicate well. It is not a role that many want to (or can) take on, but is one that is a vital lifeline for many of the im/migrant adults and children who we serve. At our first annual volunteer appreciation picnic this year, we asked those in attendance about their motivations for volunteering and this is a bit of what we heard.
I wanted to make a difference after personally experiencing injustices in the health care system. I’ve become motivated to learn Spanish and I’ve made so many great connections. I like to bring awareness to these issues and to this work that I am doing. I share stories and the experiences that I’ve had. It has been a lot of fun!
In my life, I’ve frequently been the new person in town. I know what that feels like. I’d like to help others in that position and give back to the community.
I learned about the opportunity through a friend I met doing other volunteer work and could feel the joy he got from meeting all different types of people. I love the contacts I have made and relationships I have created. They are significant to me.
It is a personal and political choice. I’ve been in healthcare all my life and having access to health care is critical for all. I see the disconnect between so many different realities. We don’t want immigrants but we want our milk? How is that possible? So many issues could be solved by opening our doors. This is a great and rewarding activity for retirement – connecting with my neighbors who I might not otherwise meet.
I feel so lucky that I have retirement benefits and a nice working car with air conditioning. I wanted to give back. But the workers have given back even more to me.
Our volunteers are an amazing and diverse collection of individuals united in their desire to help others, better their communities and support healthcare access for all Vermonters. Some volunteer with us multiple times a month, and some only a few times a year. No matter the frequency, our volunteers are the often unseen champions that make our work possible, and we so appreciate them. We always welcome interested individuals to apply to volunteer with us or to reach out with questions, more information can be found here on our website: https://www.uvm.edu/extension/agriculture/migrant-health-programs. Our application process is not short, but includes the steps we feel are necessary in considering the unique characteristics of the populations we support.
While my passenger experienced awe and astonishment learning for the first time about the role of volunteers in our programming, I can say that even after many years of doing this work I still hold those same feelings as I witness our volunteers selflessly showing up again and again in service of migrant workers in their communities. Vermont really is a special place, and working together we can ensure that achieving good health is available to all who call these green mountains (and fields) their home.
Thank you to co-author Claire Bove for her contributions to this post!