Social Worker, Wendy Bracamontes’ childhood dream never changed, it evolved. Wendy always knew she wanted to do something meaningful and in high school learned what a social worker was and what it meant to become one. She went on to pursue a degree in social work from the University of Washington in Tacoma, becoming the first graduate in her family. When Wendy thinks back to her biggest inspiration on her journey, she thinks of her parents. Wendy explains, “I know that they sacrificed a lot coming to the United States. They have always supported me and showed me what it means to work hard. Regardless of everything they went through, they have always chosen kindness and to help others.”
Wendy’s parents were patients at HealthPoint and Wendy saw how dedicated the health care providers were to care for their patients regardless of their background. When it came time to put her social work degree to use, HealthPoint seemed like the best place to give back to the community. Wendy recounts a memorable moment at HealthPoint, “I had a patient referred to our care support office struggling with multiple barriers to his care. I reached out and got to know him and his partner, and just began to connect with them to work through these barriers. He had gone through a recent amputation of his toe, and he needed diabetic shoes. We tried finding out where he could go to get diabetic shoes at a low rate. We hit many dead ends and there was not much help. Thankfully, I put in a request with our department advocating for him and sharing his story. and through that, we were able to fund his diabetic shoes. He got fit and now has them. I still work with him to check in on him and I have been able to see how much he has gotten better because he was able to get help.”
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For aspiring social workers, Wendy shares, “It is important to come into this work with an open mind and heart. You are going to learn a lot of things and be pulled into something challenging, but it is such a remarkable thing to see the difference that you can make in someone's life by being there and growing with someone and advocating for someone who has never had that. It is also important to make sure to take care of yourself and self-care!”
Check out the video below to learn more about what Wendy does in her role at HealthPoint.