Valley Health Foundation (VHF) is the only nonprofit that supports Santa Clara Valley Healthcare (SCVH) in supporting patients, families, and healthcare professionals to improve outcomes and address barriers. Why should the work of VHF and SCVH be important to you?  We might be able to convince you with facts and figures, like how this health system cares for a quarter of all residents in our community annually, provides world class trauma, rehabilitation, burn, and other services that keep all of us safe, and moves mountains to care for the most vulnerable in our community, from foster kids, to the unhoused, to refugees.  But the best way to make you a believer is not by facts and figures.  It’s by telling you a story of actual people impacted by the work that occurs at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, O’Connor Hospital, and St. Louise Regional Hospital every day.

This is the story of Michele, a special education teacher in Gilroy Unified School District.  Last April, while driving home after a day from school, Michele’s story nearly ended in tragedy.  Instead, because of VHF and SCVH, she’s able to share a story with a happy ending.