CommunityHealth shines the Volunteer Spotlight on Yoel Sanchez as our September Volunteer of the Month!
Since joining CH in June 2024, Yoel has contributed an extraordinary 478 volunteer hours, nearly five times the annual expectation of 100 hours. His dedication and flexibility have made him an invaluable member of the team, always ready to step into any role where support is needed. He has taken on the responsibilities of Dental Assistant Shift Leader, where he not only leads by example but also mentors and supports new volunteers.
Yoel is known to step up and adapt to wherever he is needed. This skill was shown when he seamlessly transitioned into the clinic greeter role, demonstrating his adaptability and commitment to the mission. His dedication to dentistry is evident in every interaction and his compassion, calming presence, and amazing chairside manner put patients at ease.
A true asset to our dental clinic, Yoel continues to go above and beyond, even internationally. He was unable to attend the 2024 Volunteer of the Year Awards Ceremony, where he was awarded Dental Volunteer of the Year, because he was on a dental brigade in Guatemala, providing free dental care to the underserved community.
CommunityHealth sat down with Yoel to learn more about what quality health care for all means to him…
Tell us more about yourself and your background.
My name is Yoel Sanchez, I am a third year student attending Northwestern University majoring in Biology and Latino studies on the pre-dental track. I am originally from Honduras and moved to Texas when I was five. I spent the majority of my life in Texas before moving to Illinois.
Why and how did you begin volunteering with CommunityHealth?
I heard about Community Health at my school’s club fair. I was tabling for a club, and next to me was Jenny, who had started a club in hope to bring more volunteers to the clinic. She pitched the clinic to me and once I heard that there was a dental clinic that was needing volunteers who spoke Spanish, I signed up. I ended up spending this my summer at the clinic.
What has kept you volunteering all this time?
Part of why I continue to volunteer is that I really enjoy the environment that the clinic foster. The staff from every department is very welcoming, especially Dr. Carlton and Ivana who patiently taught me how to fit into my role. Along the way I received help from other volunteers who all in all helped create a space in which I felt welcomed. Another reason I continue to volunteer is because of the mission and the people that the clinic serves. I enjoy speaking to patients and hearing their stories. In many ways I see my own family and myself in them, that if it wasn’t for places like CommunityHealth, they would not receive any medical help at all.
What is something you’ve learned from CommunityHealth?
Volunteering at CommunityHealth has provided me a different understanding of how free health care is possible. Seeing the combination of schools, students, and private practices comes together in order to provide free or reduced services shows that there are ways that low income communities can obtain free health care. At the clinic, I really feel like I am helping make a difference, and feel that through the experience I have gained, I have the potential to bring about a similar change wherever I go.
What is some advice you would give to new volunteers?
For new Volunteers, my biggest piece of advice would be to let curiosity guide your way. The clinic is a dynamic environment where what you take away from the clinic is depended on how invested you are in the work you are doing. Every day is an opportunity to learn something new and I can say that no two days have been the same. It genuinely feels like I’m always learning which is something I really value. I enjoy learning more about ways that I can improve the care that patients at the clinic get but also the care that I hope to provide as a dentist.
What do you enjoy outside of CommunityHealth?
When I am not in the clinic, I am reading or listing to music. I also enjoy traveling and visiting new places. I like taking solo trips and meeting amazing people all over the country. I like being in community spaces and spending time with close friends on campus.
As the largest volunteer-based free health center in the nation, serving the uninsured, underserved, and undocumented, CommunityHealth is more than a free clinic but a true patient-centered medical home. Health care providers, both clinical and nonclinical, devoted to quality health care for all are encouraged to apply.