Advocacy
My advocacy is about making care accessible, humane, and responsive to the realities people actually live.
No Child Too Far (NCTF)
About
No Child Too Far (NCTF) began after I volunteered at Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital in Dallas, where I saw families from rural Texas travel hours or stay in the city for weeks so their children could receive specialized orthopedic and rehabilitative care. Treatment was world class and often free. The hidden costs were not. Missed wages, gas, lodging, and time away from siblings quietly shaped whether care was consistent or even possible.
NCTF is my response to that gap. It is a policy and advocacy initiative focused on reducing the travel burden faced by rural pediatric patients through legislative research, physician backed policy proposals, and direct outreach to Texas lawmakers. The goal is simple and structural:
A child’s access to care should not depend on how far their family lives from a hospital.
Scope of Work
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Authored a 9-page legislative memo analyzing rural pediatric access barriers
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Conducted outreach to all Texas House districts
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Contacted 181 legislative offices and staff members
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Garnered 250+ community endorsements for policy memo (from doctors, advocates, students)
Future Goals
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Expand NCTF to other states with large rural populations using the same research and legislative outreach model.
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Create a standing advisory board of pediatric physicians and healthcare advocates that works directly with state governments on access related policy.
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Formalize that advisory board into a recognized advocacy body, with the long term goal of operating as a lobbying group or PAC focused on pediatric access.
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Secure endorsements and partnerships from established healthcare and child advocacy nonprofits to strengthen policy credibility.
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Build a permanent pipeline for student researchers to contribute data, case studies, and legislative analysis.
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Track whether proposed reforms actually reduce travel burden for families, and use that evidence to refine policy asks.