When Izzy Smiles, Our Students Thrive! Help Izzy Smile Again

Our sister, Issel "Izzy" Martinez, believes in a world where every human being treats each other with understanding, respect, and as equals. As a paraeducator (instructional assistant) helping students live a fulfilling life, and a volunteer labor activist, Izzy has an impact on all of us, whether you've met her or not. We want to give her hope through a new smile she hasn't had in decades, but can't afford and is necessary to avoid life-threatening damage to her own health.

If you can't afford to give to help Izzy smile today, please think of her again when you're able to spare a few dollars, and share our story with whomever inspires you like Izzy inspires us. (And you'll be helping the people who take care of your students too: anything above what Izzy needs will be donated to our union’s Assistance Fund [through our classified school professionals union, CSEA, of which Izzy is a proud state-level volunteer leader] to help other school staff like Izzy get some of the financial assistance they need, so they can focus on caring for our students.)

(And if you're wondering why this looks so professional...none of this was paid for. This GoFundMe was created by her fellow classified school professionals who both just happen to be her husband/graphic designer and best friend with a degree in creative writing :)

OUR WHY FOR IZZY’S SMILE

Because Izzy’s empathy for others and vision for a world of mutual respect inspires us. And we believe no one should have to take the burden of tens of thousands of dollars alone for necessary health care.

HOW SHE’LL SMILE

Through our collective support and belief in helping others. We know the best way to build trust, relationships, and community with others is by asking for help. So many of us, including Izzy, are hesitant to ask for help. But as the old saying goes, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Izzy’s work is life-changing for her students and the “village” of working people for whom she advocates. Paraeducators typically make just above minimum wage, and CSEA’s union leadership locally and across the state is made up entirely of volunteers who all work their regular school jobs. Being the union president of over 3,000 San Diego paraeducators in the second largest school district in California, her entirely unpaid volunteer influence is felt well beyond her own local union Chapter. Izzy works tirelessly to allow all of us to live with dignity as human beings.

We will keep sharing her story creatively with those who want to be inspired to live in a world where everyone has enough to eat, a roof over their head, a civically-minded education, and guaranteed advanced healthcare, without having to sacrifice one or more of those human needs. We won’t take more than what is needed for her dental procedures, donating all the rest to help our fellow classified coworkers who change student lives every day but still have to make ends meet for their families.

WHAT IZZY’S SMILE WILL TAKE: THEN AND NOW

Phobias suck. And dentistry in 2025 is obviously way better than it was in the 1990s. How many people do you know are afraid of going to the dentist? Izzy's smile has been in her heart for her entire life, but her teeth have had an unfortunate journey. As a child, she struggled with her teeth and smile due to genetics. Her parents did their best with taking her to the dentist, but mistakes can still be made, and Izzy's immigrant parents wouldn't have known what medical malpractice was, nor would they want to deal with the courts.

Izzy's dental procedures were never properly medicated, causing immense pain, and a fear that developed and stayed for most of her life. Feeling tooth drilling without the right pain medication is enough to traumatize a child, and unfortunately Izzy was one of those children. She went through years of focusing on her future but avoiding the dentist, enduring toothache, lost teeth, and deteriorating gums over going to the dentist. When she first considered finally resolving her dental issues in 2013, the news was shocking: $27,000 for simple dentures. She was making $15/hour...without any health benefits at all. She just couldn't afford it.

Izzy continued to go to school, receiving an associate's degree in psychology, working several jobs, and eventually becoming a paraeducator for San Diego Unified School District, where she focused on her students and finding her voice in the union. But in 2017, Izzy was the victim of another person's poor judgment in the middle of the night, being hit by a car with a driver who was eventually found guilty of a DUI.

Death missed Izzy by an inch. She miraculously survived, making a full recovery. With her mental health suffering, she sought therapy and began to address her phobia of dentistry. But of course, the money still wasn't there.

After her recovery, she continued her work for students and for her union family, and after surviving the pandemic, she rose to becoming union president, focusing on advocating for more than 3,000 of her fellow union members and making impacts across California. But she kept avoiding the fear and astronomical cost of addressing her teeth.

Until 2025...where a pain in her jaw that she described as "a 9 out of 10" made its way to her forehead/temple. She could no longer ignore the inevitable. Three dentists all gave the same opinion: that she would have to have all of her teeth removed. The top row of her teeth have been extracted, and her pain is gone. But now, she faces over $60,000 in dental bills (yes, after insurance) over the next 2 years, which includes the full removal (extraction) of both rows of teeth, temporary dentures, and permanent implants.

Our Izzy is strong. She is tenacious, dedicated to the mission of improving the lives of union members everywhere, students, and our San Diego community. She empowers people of all ages. She advocates for inclusivity and takes people along a journey towards equity. She respects people for their humanity, and she is transparent in all her dealings with others. And her innovative mind and advocacy resulted in a contract with San Diego Unified in 2023 that included a historic 15% raise for her union family while having to bury her grandmother around the same time, and then a few months later having to bury her mom who passed far too young in her early 60s, with money her family didn't have.

She still advocates daily for her members and is finishing up the final term of her presidency, where she will step down at the end of 2025. But she needs your help today. Izzy has changed the lives of countless students and working people throughout her life.

We know our community can change her life. For every person she's given her time and her heart towards, she deserves to finally be able to show the smile that's been in her heart for over 4 decades. Asking for help is hard. But living without a real smile - and not having the money to take care of your health - is harder.

Let's give her that smile, so her students - and all of us - can thrive. THANK YOU!