31 Days To Give: HEALS

HEALS provides school-based health care at local schools to children in need and now one local mother is sharing her story on how the organization helped her family.

This week we kicked-off the waay "31 days to give" campain... waay 31 - toyota motor north alabama - and the rocket city trash pandas are raising money for three non-profit groups.

The groups have faced major challenges during the ongoing pandemic.

Tonight we are focusing on the organization heals... it provides school-based health care at local schools to children in need.

One local mother shares how the organization helped her family.

Marta torres' children have been receiving services from heals inc.

For about five years... because of heals, all five of her children have access to the health care services they need at no cost.

Marta torres/ parent <the staff is the best, in caring.

Since english is my second language...we feel very comfortable vising the clinic."

Heals, inc.

Is a non-profit organization in huntsville dedicated to providing free - quality, school-based primary health care for low-income children through collaborative efforts with the huntsville city and madison county school systems and the medical community.

By providing on-site medical and dental care, mental health counseling, optometry and social services at local schools, heals makes an immediate difference in the lives of children in need.

Cathy nall/ lead nurse <the reality is without the heals being present on site here at the schools, some of our children would be facing some very serious challenges the organizations executive director told me heals has been impacted significantly by the coronavirus.

Currently, the non-profits only has two clinics open for huntsville city school students and one for madison county school students.

That's compared to four medical and three dental clinics the organization had prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

Due to covid-19 guidelines, the non-profit couldn't provide routine dental care to children in need march tough may.

But through our waay 31 days to give - you can donate and help children right here in our community get the care they need.

Torres says she doesn't know what her family would have done without heals.

"thanks to heals we have a home away from home," torres "a quiet and a gentle place where patients can come here and get the help they need."

> heals was founded in 1998.

It has provided free health care to more than 15- thousand children in our community.

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