Meet Our New Partner: Chronically Informed
We’re thrilled to partner with Chronically Informed, an organization using video stories to help patients navigate the healthcare system.
What They Cover
Real patient experiences on practical topics like choosing health insurance, working with patient advocates, switching providers, and finding copay assistance programs.
Why It Matters
Research shows that patients struggle to partner with providers and navigate the medical system, making access to care difficult and sometimes impossible.
Chronically Informed changes this by showing that others have found pathways through these challenges—and you can too. These videos foster patient-provider partnerships and empower patients through shared experiences. This approach is approachable, accessible, and effective.
Watch their videos: chronicallyinformed.org
Aaron’s Story: From Patient to Physician to HealthEd Founder
Chronically Informed featured Aaron sharing his personal journey and why HealthEd for Everyone exists.
What He Shares
- Living with chronic pain since childhood and what it felt like when doctors said “just stretch more”
- How autism affects his experience in medical settings
- Why feeling unheard as a patient led him to medical school
- The moment he realized he could help more patients by leaving clinical practice to create HealthEd
His story shows how personal health experiences shape the resources we create, and why we’re so committed to making health information actually understandable.
Featured Resources: Food Insecurity Support
With SNAP funding uncertain and many families facing food insecurity, we created two posts:
🥫 Food Resources Near You
Find free or low-cost food through food banks, pantries, community fridges, Little Free Pantries, meal programs for seniors, apps for discounted food, and more.
🤝 How to Support People Who Need Food
Practical ways to help: why donating money works better than food, becoming a “grocery buddy,” starting a Little Free Pantry, organizing effective food drives, and supporting local schools.
Why this matters now: 1 in 8 Americans relies on SNAP benefits. With federal funding uncertain and many federal workers going unpaid, food banks can’t meet the need alone.
Standing in the Rain: Harvest Festival
I tabled at the Center of Hope Family Services Harvest Festival in Toledo on October 23rd. Fifteen minutes in, it started hailing.
Luckily I was next to the Girl Scouts’ table. The person tabling for them rushed over to help me pack up our paper resources before they got soaked. We saved most of them!
Then I stood in the rain for the next hour and a half. But I wasn’t alone. The person tabling for Bittersweet Farms stayed too. We stood there together in the rain and hail, doing our best to connect people with our organizations’ services.
Throughout the event, people shared their own medical journeys with me. We talked about times they struggled to understand a diagnosis or confusing symptoms, and explored ways HealthEd might support patients like them.
What I Learned: We need a weather-proof tent so we can keep these important conversations going, no matter what the weather brings. We also need clips and duct tape to keep our paper resources from flying away (thank you Girl Scouts!)
Get Our Print Resources
We create resources meant to be shared—in waiting rooms, community centers, schools, churches, or your own home.
📧 Email: info@HealthEd4Everyone.org
📝 Online form: Request Print Resources
No minimum order! Whether you need one copy or 50 for your clinic, we’ll work with you.
What We’re Working On
📚 I Can Get an Ultrasound (Kids Book)
Exciting progress! Our illustrator has completed one-third of the color drawings. Once finished, we’ll be ready to print.
We need donations to print these books and distribute them for free to families and healthcare providers who work with autistic children.
📖 I Can Go to the Doctor (Kids Book)
We’re looking for an illustrator for our second book in the series! This book will help prepare children (especially those with autism) for doctor appointments.
Interested illustrators: Email AVrolijk@HealthEd4Everyone.org
🏥 Sexual & Reproductive Health Resources
Creating clear, accessible information about STI prevention, birth control options, and period management. Drafting begins soon!
🌐 Website Check Complete
Aaron went through the entire site checking for broken links and navigation issues. The site should be working smoothly now, but if you find something we missed, please let us know!
Join Our Board!
We’re looking for a Treasurer and Secretary to join our Board of Directors. If you care about health literacy and want to contribute your skills to a growing nonprofit, we’d love to hear from you—whether you have board experience or you’re exploring it for the first time.
The commitment: Quarterly board meetings (1-2 hours each) plus 1-3 hours monthly for your specific role. 2-year terms.
Treasurer: Help us understand our finances, present budgets to the board, and provide oversight on financial decisions.
Secretary: Take meeting notes, maintain board records, and coordinate board communications.
Interested? Email AVrolijk@HealthEd4Everyone.org
Ways to Support Our Work
💙 Donate
Where your money goes: Your donation helps us print our children’s book series, create sexual health resources, and provide more free print materials to communities that need them.
We’re a small nonprofit making health information understandable for everyone. Every donation—whether $10 or $100—helps us reach more people.
🤝 Volunteer
Help us create better health education—on your schedule. We need help with user testing, content feedback, website improvements, and more.
We’re also hiring an illustrator for our children’s book series “I Can Go to the Doctor.”
Get involved: info@HealthEd4Everyone.org
💬 Share Your Ideas
What health topics confuse you? What do you wish your doctor had time to explain?
Email us: info@HealthEd4Everyone.org
📣 Spread the Word
Know someone who might benefit from easy-to-understand health information? Forward this newsletter or share HealthEd4Everyone.org
