{"id":4057,"date":"2014-07-14T09:00:24","date_gmt":"2014-07-14T13:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/givinglife.canadahelps.org\/?p=1383"},"modified":"2024-10-31T16:58:47","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T20:58:47","slug":"hope-is-in-the-air-breaking-down-healthcare-barriers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/hope-is-in-the-air-breaking-down-healthcare-barriers\/","title":{"rendered":"Hope is in the Air: Breaking Down Healthcare Barriers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charity Spotlight:<\/i><\/b> This post was provided by Navjot Bhullar and Sharmeen Kabir, volunteers for Hope Air, as part of our ongoing charity spotlight series.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"Hope<\/a><\/p>\n

When you\u2019re sick, where do you go? What if the nearest hospital or specialist was 400km away and you couldn\u2019t afford a plane ticket? Instead, you\u2019d have to travel by car or bus for hours while coping with intense pain, or with a spouse or child who is recovering from serious treatment.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s vast distances are one of the last great barriers to healthcare. Individuals living outside of Canada\u2019s major urban centres often must travel thousands of miles at great cost and stress to access specialized medical care. With Hope Air\u2019s assistance, we can help bring individuals to the care they need.<\/p>\n

Great doctors and equipment are only useful if people can access them. As the only national charity that provides free flights for Canadians who are in financial need and must travel to access care, the work done by Hope Air is unique. \u00a0Hope Air steps in during a critical time in a person\u2019s life, when the dual barriers of distance and financial need weigh heavily.<\/p>\n

Doug\u2019s Story<\/h2>\n

\"Doug\"<\/a>One client we\u2019ve helped, Doug, suffers from Becker\u2019s Muscular Dystrophy, a debilitating disorder that causes muscle weakness in the legs and pelvis. Doug can\u2019t ride in cars or buses, but he must travel annually from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario to the Neuromuscular Clinic at the McMaster University Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario to see his doctor for treatment.<\/p>\n

Doug\u2019s only options were to spend money he didn\u2019t have on a flight, or forego treatment \u2013 a choice we don\u2019t think any Canadian should have to make.<\/p>\n

Our Greatest Challenge<\/h2>\n

Our mission is to provide free flights to individuals and families who cannot afford the cost of travel to access medical care that is often not available in their home communities. To ensure that we can help as many Canadians as possible, Hope Air operates three different flights programs: Flight Purchase Program, Commercial Airline Donation Program, and Volunteer Pilot Program.<\/p>\n

Currently, 70 per cent of the flights we arrange are purchased with funds we acquire through the support of our generous donors, while remaining flights are kindly donated by our airline partners and provided by our volunteer pilots. The demand for our services continues to increase \u2013 in 2013 alone we saw an increase of 16 per cent \u2013 but the donations we receive can\u2019t always keep up.<\/p>\n

Hope Air is not an airline, it\u2019s a lifeline.<\/b> In our 25 year history, we\u2019ve provided more than 85,000 free flights to children and adults across the country. We must continue to raise money to ensure that we can maintain providing flights to those Canadians who are most in need of our help.<\/p>\n