Community volunteer highlight: Yolanda Moisa
If you’ve been to our signature annual event Bridges to Healthcare, you’ve seen the results and impact of Yolanda Moisa’s work. She’s been an integral part of the coordinating team, helping with the registration, silent auction, and donation accounting pieces.
Like so many other volunteers, Yolanda discovered us through a personal connection.
“I found out about the organization a few years back from Carrie Body, a nurse case manager at the Essential Health Clinic, who spoke highly of Project Access NOW,” Yolanda said. “She connected me with [former Program Manager] Lorraine Williams, who was on the Clinic’s board and helping with their own event. When Lorraine started working on the inaugural Bridges to Healthcare last year, she called me.”
While with the first event Yolanda helped mainly the day of the event, the second Bridges to Healthcare saw her put in 200 volunteer hours over two months prior, during, and after the event.
The draw for Yolanda to Project Access NOW is personal and twofold.
“I’m interested in healthcare as an advocate for women and children experiencing disparities in access to care. I love that Project Access NOW is community driven, helping people who don’t have access to healthcare. And I have a business that helps nonprofits manage events and other impact projects.”
Another expression of Yolanda’s passion is her work toward a graduate degree in public health at Portland State University. The new, academic adventure meshes well with her administrative experience in health-related class action lawsuits. By her own admission, Yolanda wants to connect all of her skills and experience to being of service to people in healthcare.
Her volunteer experience is thus a piece of a bigger puzzle. “What I really love about Project Access NOW is that all the staff there have a passion for helping the community and clients. That’s what helps me keep going back.”
(June 2010)
