GIG Social Good Spotlight:
LOTUS BLOOM CHILD & FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER — Uplifting Children and Closing the Achievement Gap

What is Lotus Bloom Child & Family Resource Center?
Lotus Bloom is a multicultural organization based in Oakland, California that develops and provides a safe, loving environment for inner-city children and families, offering developmental play and art activities to children from 0 to 5 years of age.  Last year, the center served approximately 600 individuals, of which 144 children and 138 adults participated in its 0-5 year old multicultural playgroups.

What is Lotus Bloom’s mission? What big changes is it trying to make?
Lotus Bloom’s mission is to empower individuals to realize their full potential and transcend their dreams into reality. In education, the “achievement gap” refers to the differences in academic performance — academic grades, standardized-test scores, drop-out rates, college-completion rates — and is most often used to describe the performance gaps between students from low-income families and those who are better off. In Oakland’s San Antonio neighborhood, 86 percent of 3rd graders were not reading at grade level and kindergarten teachers reported that children entering school had no preschool or early care experience. To help fill this achievement gap, several local volunteers and social service providers came together to form Lotus Bloom in the Fall of 2006 to offer free access to playgroup and school readiness programs.

How is Lotus Bloom using its power to help others?
Nationwide, the data is startling — 29 percent of 2-year-olds in poverty demonstrated proficiency in listening comprehension, compared with 39 percent of those at or above poverty, and 55 percent of those in poverty were proficient in expressive vocabulary, compared with 67 percent at or above poverty. The disparity increases in later years. Twenty percent of 4-year-olds in poverty were proficient in letter recognition, compared with 37 percent of their peers at or above poverty. Forty-five percent of 4-year-olds in poverty demonstrated proficiency in numbers and shapes, compared with 72 percent of their peers at or above poverty.

Dedicated to working with diverse populations and connecting people of different backgrounds to work collaboratively, Lotus Bloom promotes language development and early learning experiences through playgroups and classes, such as Asian Community Mental Health Playgroups, multicultural play groups by age, and Parent Child Yoga,. Many of these classes are free or offered or on a sliding scale of $1-$5 per child, per day.

What inspires Lotus Bloom to do this work?
“Seeing children and families make progress everyday inspires me to do the work, whether it is watching children play with other children, holding a pencil for the first time, or writing their first name,” said Angela Louie Howard, Executive Director.

The majority of the families that go to Lotus Bloom come from low-income backgrounds and third world countries and the concept of learning through play is a new concept to them. “I love to see parents in our programs get acculturated, learn new skills, new songs, count in different languages, and make new friends,” she said.

What is Lotus Bloom focusing on now?
Lotus Bloom is working on a licensed community kitchen in order to help incubate small catering and food services within the community. The San Antonio neighborhood is plagued with fast food restaurants, such as McDonalds and Churches Chicken, and the organization wants to help the local neighborhood make use of their own cooking resources and build healthy and sustainable food programs. Food is also a great way to bring people together to share knowledge and culture and strengthen the community.

How can GIGSTERS get involved and support Lotus Bloom?
• Purchase a NSF certified oven/stove for their licensed community kitchen
• Volunteer and help by:
– Working on our backyard to build community garden
– Providing administrative support
– Starting and facilitating a parent leadership group
– Participating on Lotus Bloom’s Board of Directors
– Plan and administer two fundraisers
• Donate and provide financial resources to support our work

To volunteer or get more information on how to support Lotus Bloom, click here to fill out their contact form.

The post Lotus Bloom Child & Family Resource Center — Closing the Achievement Gap appeared first on Go Inspire Go.

When I was a teenager, I remember trying to help my grandmother and mother (who speak limited English) figure out their healthcare benefits. Breast cancer claimed my Aunt Hong’s life 10-years ago. I remember she was more worried about what her insurance would or would not cover, more than the cancer itself. I remember my heart beating fast, palms sweaty, as I tried to decipher the legalese and medical jargon on the forms for my family members. It’s as if the paperwork was made to confuse applicants. I could just imagine the frustration of my elders and how helpless they felt relying on a kid to do the paperwork so they can get the medical care they so desperately needed. I’ve had my personal tug-of-wars with my previous dental insurance provider when I was in pain during finals my third year in college and the insurance company denied my root canal.

I’m not here to make a statement about America’s broken healthcare system or air my grievances about whose done me wrong. As a matter of fact, I’ve had some pretty pleasant encounters with my HMOs and PPOs. Rather I’m here to share an inspirational story of a Doctor whom I recently met through my friends at CharityFocus. A doctor with a prescription on how she can fix America’s healthcare boo boos.

Amidst the ongoing healthcare debate in America, one doctor, out of Oakland, Calif., has a simple solution: just give it away.

“We give, no strings attached,” Dr. Aumatma Shah said with a big smile. Dr. Shah co-founded KarmaClinic in April 2009. She decided to volunteer her services full-time about four months ago and doesn’t get paid a single penny. Yep, that’s right, she doesn’t get a paycheck. Patients don’t have to pay for her services. She gives the gift of healthcare.

Why would anyone do such a thing, especially when Naturopathic doctors can charge $50-300 an hour? Go Inspire Go made an appointment with Dr. Shah to find out what inspired her to gift healthcare, how she sustains the clinic and how she pays her bills without a paycheck or hidden savings.

Dr. Shah is Naturopathic Doctor (using natural remedies to heal). She received her Naturopathic Medicine Degree and her Masters degree in Nutrition from the University of Bridgeport and got her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Rutgers University. Even though she excelled in the pre-med program at Rutgers, Dr. Shah found her calling through Naturopathy because it connects the mind, body, and spirit.

The concept is simple: “We wish to give the gift of healthcare,” she said. “Our current healthcare system is broken and is in shambles, the reform really doesn’t address the root cause. Even with the at-best option for single payer, the healthcare system would not address the problem of disconnectedness that people so commonly feel from their practitioners.”

Dr. Shah believes that the universe will sustain the cost operating the clinic and her basic needs. “All I need is food and shelter,” she said with another smile. Anonymous donations have miraculously sustained her since the clinic opened its doors.

Oh, and I must mention, the quality of time spent with patients. After they make an appointment online, Dr. Shah sends patients a long, in depth questionnaire, with questions that reach deep within, such as the patient’s perspective on life and their responsibility to heal, before she meets with them. The first appointment is about two hours long. Along with no payment due at the end of the visit, patients don’t have to wait in line and get a unique one-on-one medical experience that has many patients leaving transformed — with a renewed outlook on their health and their lives. On top of the deep connection, the attention and quality time with Dr. Shah, patients leave with the gift of a smile card that reminds you to “smile” and pay this gift forward in an anonymous way — a gift, a shift and an experience that money can’t buy.

This experiment is about to face its biggest test yet — Dr. Shah’s medical school loans will be due next month. Still, she trusts that if the loans need to be paid, the money will come. The universe will provide.

When I tell people about Karma Clinic and explain what Dr. Shah is doing, I could literally see people’s minds churning. People ask how could this be? How does she pay her bills? What? Blank and discombobulated facial expressions ensue.

Some people I’ve come across while producing this story have called me credulous, others were skeptical of Naturopathy and exactly how and why Dr. Shah does what she does. I’m not insinuating that naturopathy will work for you; everyone has the right to think and choose the path of healing they believe in.

Whether you’re a skeptic or a supporter, I hope this story inspires you to think about what you can do for others.

Through our work at Go Inspire Go, we hope to help people discover and use their “power” to help others. Through our videos, we hope that you will discover your power (resources, talents, gifts) to give back. You don’t have to take drastic measures, sell your home or quit your job — I hope to inspire you to think about what you’re capable of doing to help others, in your scope, in your comfort level, on your own time.

When I think about my Aunt Hong, who died in her 40s and everyone who is battling illnesses and insurance companies, I can’t help but think about what Dr. Shah said that will always continue to resonate and inspire me: “We give the patients the respect that they deserve, regardless of whether they have money or not, because they’re human beings.” Isn’t that the way healthcare should be? Isn’t this the way we should treat others, no matter what resources or gifts we have to offer? No matter how much you have in your bank account, what title you do or do not have, I truly believe that everyone has the power to help others.

What Can YOU do?

The post Dr. Gives the ‘Gift’ of Healthcare appeared first on Go Inspire Go.