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Donald Dimitruk • 831-464-6464 donald@countrysidefinancial.com • www.ReverseMortgageOpportunity.com Registered Financial Consultant® Registered Mortgage Advisor DRE#10902537 NMLS#232493 Professional Mortgage Associates Established in 1978. YOU CAN SHARE THE DREAM Reverse Mortgage Questions answered on the phone FREE • No Obligation • Just Answers Celebrating 42 Years in Business! Are you ready to age in place? Clear explanations of exactly how a Reverse Mortgage can work for you! Call for information and a quote! This is the new normal By Raymon Cancino, CEO Community Bridges Signs of normalcy are beginning to creep back in to our daily lives. Like most of our neighbors, our Community Bridges' fam- ily is celebrating the small victories: gatherings with family, more hugs, and more smiling faces. Also like most of our com- munity, we are grappling with what "normal" looks like moving forward. Some of our programs provide healthcare, in those facilities if we don't know the vaccine status of the individuals we are serving we are continuing to ask all our clients to wear masks. The same rule will apply in our child care facilities – at least for now. For human service organi- zations, the huge increase in demand for our services is not likely to completely recede as the pandemic comes to an end. In human service organizations, this level of demand is likely to be our new normal. In Santa Cruz County, the percentage of our popula- tion living below poverty level is higher than the national average. At 14.3%, the population of those in need is higher in this county than in neighboring Monterey, San Mateo, or Santa Clara counties. This means more people in our community will need our support to get back on their feet. You might have heard an unusual term when referring to the post-pan- demic economic recovery – some people are calling it "k-shaped." What that really means is that people who were just hanging on will have a harder time re- covering from the econom- ic impacts of the pandemic. They'll be on the "bottom" leg of the k. While those who were already doing well, will have a much eas- ier time thriving as things restart. They'll be on the top leg. It's serving those peo- ple who find themselves struggling to get back to where they were finan- cially that affect what our "new" normal looks like at Community Bridges. Before the pandemic, Meals on Wheels, Santa Cruz County – a Program of Community Bridges – provided roughly 160,000 meals per year. Since the start of the pandemic, and the addition of a breakfast meal, Meals on Wheels served more than 360,000 meals. It's hard to see that number getting back to where it was in February 2020 for quite some time. At Community Bridges, we have long said that "Together, Anything is Possible." So we are looking forward to com- ing back together, again to begin addressing these challenges. In August, we will host our annual Farm to Fork Gala and Auction. The funds this event helps to raise allow us to be nim- ble. When pop-up vacci- nation support is needed, Community Bridges is able to be there – in part because of your support for these special events. In the fall, we will be gathering for Mountain Affair in the San Lorenzo Valley where we hope to celebrate the resiliency of a community that faced so many tests in the last year and continues to be there for one another. We'll close out the year with "Food From the Heart" at Chaminade – our annual Meals on Wheels luncheon. The volunteers and our team did truly heroic work during this past year. These small acts of love ensured that the significant increase in food insecurity among seniors could be addressed. We hope you'll join us in honoring them. The after-effects of the pandemic from economic anxiety to mental health trauma are only now revealing themselves. We know there will be chal- lenges. But at Community Bridges we still believe – Together, Anything is Possible. We hope you'll join us – communitybridg- es.org. What this podiatrist wants you to know about toe surgery By Tea Nguyen, DPM As a surgically trained foot and ankle specialist, not once have I ever heard patients wanting to have pins sticking out of their toes after hammertoe or toe deformity correction, and yet this is the "standard" of care. Is there something better to correct toe defor- mities that doesn't sound so intrusive? I had been on a mission to elevate the surgical expe- rience for patients and dis- covered minimally invasive surgery as a reproducible, reliable treatment for toe deformity. I've trained with surgeons who have had over 40 years of experience in minimally invasive toe surgery from all over the world. I've completely abandoned the old way of correcting toes with large incisions and pins and adopted the minimally in- vasive technique almost ex- clusively now. Here's how I do toe correction surgery differently these days. 1. I do it in my office. I per- form minimally invasive toe surgery in my office under sterile conditions under local anesthesia. This is such a convenient option for patients that 99% of pa- tients are requesting office surgery, rather than doing it at the surgery center or hospital. This helps save patients time and money. 2. I do it without pins, screws or implants. It's true, I do not need to use any metal to maintain the correction. The secret is in the bandaging that acts as an external splint during the healing process. 3. You can walk right away. Say good-bye to months in a cast and hello to walking right after surgery. The benefits of minimally invasive surgery includes decreased use of nar- cotics since there is less pain with less dissection. Smaller incisions reduce the risks of infection and scarring. And since there is absolutely no hardware going in, a secondary sur- gery to remove it doesn't even exist. Plus, no risk of implant rejection. Why aren't more foot and ankle specialists do- ing it this way? There is a steep learning curve in adopting a new technique through a tiny pin hole incision. The entire health care system would ben- efit from more surgeons performing surgery in the office so it will only be a matter of time that more surgeons accept this to be the new standard of care. Reducing postop- erative pain, complica- tions and costs should be on everyone's radar. Minimally invasive toe surgery has already been established all over the world includ- ing Spain and Canada. I am excited to be the first foot and ankle specialist to introduce office based toe surgery for all of Santa Cruz and Monterey County. What should I expect from my appointment with Dr. Tea Nguyen? I would love to help you get back on your feet. Here is what hap- pens as you become our patient: 1. We jump for joy! 2. A friendly staff member will ensure that your ques- tions are answered and that we see you immediately. 3. I will review your med- ical history, examine you and explain everything I'm doing so you know exactly what's going on. 4. We are a concierge prac- tice that allows you direct access with Dr. Tea without delay so you can have full control over your health. You deserve happy and healthy feet so don't wait any longer. Protect your feet now by calling 831-288-3400 Learn more at 831feet. com. Request an appoint- ment online at http://bit.ly/ dr_tea