UMMA News

Dear Friend of UMMA,

The summer months are upon us, and we have been busy at work here at UMMA. I wanted to first thank you all for your continued support, especially during our recent campaign during the month of Ramadan.Because of supporters and friends like you, we met our fundraising goal for the month and continue our mission of providing high quality healthcare for all regardless of ability to pay.

Thank you for helping us surpass our goal by $16,000 during Ramadan!

Interns & Volunteers
We are thankful to our first cohort of UMMA interns who logged over 450 service hours for our patients during the past three months. Their willingness and enthusiasm for our patients and the community was a welcome sight for all of us. We were also happy to bring on one of our interns as a full-time staff member serving as a patient navigator who also happened to attend Fremont High School, where we have our wellness center located. More than half of our staff comes directly from the community, and we pride ourselves in being a workplace of choice.

Health & Food Equity 
At UMMA we understand that much of this work needs to go up-steam, and that is why we have partnered with local community organizations to become a regional food distributor, in partnership with the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust and LA Food Forward. On a month basis, we move upwards of 30,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables at our Fremont Wellness Center, serving hundreds of families. Health equity cannot take place without addressing issues of food insecurity, and our patients have access to this food distribution as a means of improving their own health and that of their families.

Current Climate & Resiliency 
The staff at UMMA along with the resiliency of our patients continue to propel us to new heights for our patients. While national and local fears around immigration policies, divisive rhetoric around bans and walls continues to impact our community, we have been busy at work addressing the trauma our communities are facing through behavioral health sessions that are integrated with primary care visits. We are on the front lines of empowering our communities with tools to combat this onslaught.

Healing the Homeless 
The issue of homelessness has recently come back into the spotlight, and we firmly believe that access to healthcare for our brothers and sisters who are homeless is paramount in bringing them dignity. That is why for the last 19 years we have participated Humanitarian Day, an annual event that seeks to help bring dignity to the residents of skid row. UMMA volunteers and staff provided health screenings and counseling to over 220 skid row residents last month. The annual event is an UMMA tradition and continues to grow in impact.

We are not done yet. In the coming months, you’ll be hearing about how we are deepening our roots in the community. At a time when so much uncertainty fills our collective conscience, UMMA is standing on the front lines defending and upholding the dignity of all our patients. And for that we thank you, and ask that you join us in uplifting our communities. Continue reading…

We love keeping our donors informed, and wanted to let you know that we will be moving to quarterly updates for the remainder of the year. Click here to view UMMA’s full Quarterly newsletter.

Subscribe to our mailing list to receive our quarterly newsletter! Keep an eye out for the Fall 2018 Edition this autumn!