They provide care where children spend most of their waking hours – at school.  They also witness factors that impact student health and academic achievement — such as bullying, depression, stress and poor eating habits — which health providers outside a school setting may miss.

Take Indianapolis’ Decatur Discovery Academy, for example. HealthNet school nurse Jennifer Decker, RN, BSN, wasn’t too worried when a student came to her office with a routine headache. When the headaches continued for two weeks, however, Jennifer encouraged the student’s mother to urge her doctor to investigate further.

Thankfully, the mother did. As a result, doctors removed a tumor – about the size of a quarter – from the child’s brainstem.

“I was so glad to be able to talk to this mother, offer support and let her know we are praying for her daughter,” Jennifer said. “She thanked me for taking the time and caring. That totally made me cry, knowing that this family in crisis is thinking about expressing gratitude to me for simply doing my job.”

With your help, we can make this student’s recovery a little easier. Her condition affected her sense of balance and ability to walk. The school needs a wheelchair to aid her when she returns to classes, but doesn’t have one. In fact, a wheelchair would help lots of students who have injuries that make it difficult to navigate the large school campus.

If you’d like to provide a wheelchair for Indianapolis schools that need them, please consider making a small donation to HealthNet’s School-Based Services. Let’s make health a bridge, not a barrier, to learning.