MontalvoInternational Health Center

Health and Wellness are a worldwide necessity. And I have always viewed health and access to comprehensive and holistic healthcare as a human right, not a privilege.

As a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, I have also seen that children are often one of the most vulnerable and compromised groups around the world, especially when it comes to access to health and resources.

Furthermore, environments that children come from can often determine their understanding and success of a healthy life - not just physically, but emotionally, mentally, and spiritually as well. All of these factors affecting their future and our world's future. Simply put, healthy families equals healthy children, and in turn healthy communities. And it is my desire to see the world well - one child, one family, one community at a time.

With that in mind, I am raising money to embark on an international health initiative, starting with the creation of a health center in the rural town of Laurens, South Carolina. South Carolina, unfortunately, has one of the lowest health rankings in the U.S., and access to comprehensive health and education is often few a far between. Also, with an unemployment rate higher than the national average, and an average rural per capital of $31,000, the State struggles to keep up in all aspects of health. There needs to be creative solutions.

A Pediatrician who is closing her practice has offered to hand down her clinic space to me to start the process, but we will need help with the start-up costs for renting the space, equipment, utilities, and licensing. And as my small family and I are re-locating from the urban North to down South, the move alone will be a big process.

So, I am reaching out to all of you to spread the word, and consider partnering with us as we work to open the first Montalvo International Community Health Center.

The hope is to ultimately empower, support, and strengthen the local community through family-centered and culturally-sensitive educational, spiritual, social, and clinical initiatives.