In early 2024, Myasia had just started working as a personal care assistant but couldn't secure enough hours because she didn't have reliable childcare for her daughter. When she reached out to her social worker for help, communication stalled. Calls went unreturned, emails went unanswered, and she felt stuck in a loop of bureaucratic inaction.

“Just having to work out transportation and appointments around when I was working and when someone could watch my daughter was hard enough,” she said. “Nothing was getting done, and it was weighing pretty heavy on me.”

And then her phone rang, with one of Waymark's care team members on the other end of the line.

"I remember getting the phone call and saying that I wasn’t sure they could help me with anything because I already had a doctor," Myasia said. "Waymark’s care coordinator was like, ‘we can help with transportation assistance and medical appointments,' and I was just like, 'Oh, well then, I really need help right now. Like, I really do.'"

Addressing immediate concerns for long-term positive impact

One of Waymark’s community health workers (CHWs) immediately began working with Myasia to secure reliable childcare for her daughter. That responsiveness made all the difference when Myasia was trying to navigate systems that didn’t always seem designed to move quickly. 

“For a while, our social worker wasn’t getting back to me about childcare vouchers or programs or anything,” Myasia said. “And then, about two days after a [Waymark] CHW called, I was approved for a childcare subsidy. It was amazing.”

After they worked out her childcare concerns, Myasia asked Waymark’s Hampton Roads-based care team members if they had any suggestions for how she could address another long-standing concern. Her daughter had been experiencing severe digestive issues since birth, and finding specialists who were accessible – both geographically and within Myasia’s insurance network – had proven nearly impossible on her own.

“They didn’t leave me by myself to handle it,” Myasia remembers. “I figured they’d just suggest things I could try, but they offered to help us both out right away.”

Waymark’s care team members researched options, identified three pediatric doctors with relevant expertise Myasia could easily access via car or public transportation, and helped coordinate appointments. The process that could have easily taken several months instead took only a handful of weeks.

“She was able to get in and get seen, and she’s doing so much better now,” said Myasia. “Getting that off my shoulders was just amazing.”

Removing barriers, opening doors

In the months that followed, Myasia experienced what happens when someone with deep knowledge of community resources and systems navigation steps in to level the playing field. When her apartment complex failed to address serious habitability issues – a lack of adequate heat and air conditioning, a roach infestation, and ongoing security concerns – a Waymark care team member sent a formal complaint directly to the property ownership on Myasia's behalf, documenting the medical and safety concerns affecting both Myasia and her daughter.

The care team member also connected Myasia with resources she hadn't known existed. When food security became an issue, Myasia was connected to area food banks. When her daughter needed extra diapers to be sent with her to childcare, Myasia was connected with diaper banks near her home.

What stood out most to Myasia was that all of this support didn't feel transactional; it felt like a partnership between her and Waymark’s community-based care team members. Myasia remembers that, when she mentioned an interest in holistic health, Waymark’s care team members immediately started sharing information about pathways into that field. A few months later, Myasia landed a job at CVS that would include cross-training as a pharmacy technician, and Waymark’s care team members celebrated with her.

Looking back on her experience with Waymark, Myasia is still impressed by the speed and comprehensiveness of the support she received.

“I think I received probably two years' worth of help from Waymark in about two months,” she said. “It was crazy looking back, but the best kind of crazy. I never knew so many resources existed for me until I connected with Waymark”

Myasia's daughter is thriving in a daycare less than 10 minutes from their home. The little girl who used to cry every day at drop-off now naps at school and even eats there, which is a remarkable shift for a child her mother describes as "the pickiest eater alive."

Myasia herself is building toward both short-term stability and long-term goals. She's working at CVS and training to become a pharmacy technician, and saving money for a car so she can expand her work opportunities. For Myasia, Waymark represented something she'd been searching for: a partner who understood that navigating complex systems requires more than just information. It also requires someone willing to advocate until doors open.

"I’ve talked to people in my community who might also qualify for Waymark, and I always tell them, ‘If someone from Waymark texts you, text back’,” Myasia said. "They literally have resources for everything. They know how to open doors. They want to help you because they care.”