Our Stories

Marty Alpert is very aware of the Hope Fund. In fact, she’s been one of its biggest cheerleaders over the years. Even so, when she went from booster to applicant, she wasn’t prepared for how quickly she was helped — and what that help meant in her life.

“I used to work for West Hills Hospital, and at one point I was responsible for being a champion for the then-new Hope Fund,” she recalls. “It was the first campaign, and I held the meetings, talked about it and told everyone how great it was going to be. Even so, I still was a little skeptical, because I wasn’t sure how it was going to work just because it was such a new idea.”

A few years later, she had become a Credentialing Coordinator at West Hills Surgical Center, and was still involved in promoting the Hope Fund. Then on June 23, 2013, a she, her daughter and their two small dogs had to evacuate their home. A sudden sewage issue meant that there was no time to grab clothing, books, photos or important documents, most of which were ruined.  Worse still, the home itself was deemed uninhabitable until cleaning and remediation could take place.

“It was obviously a very traumatic event,” Marty says. “I didn’t know who to call, or what to do. We had basically lost everything, and I was in that place where you can’t go backward, but have no idea how to go forward, either. I was paralyzed.”  All that Hope Fund work came in handy, because she quickly realized that she did have at least one avenue for support. She’d been able to up her credit-card limit in order to start paying for repairs (most of which were not covered by homeowners insurance), and so she turned to the Hope Fund so she could keep that process going.

“There wasn’t a lot of red tape,” Marty says. “I submitted receipts and did the proper paperwork. They told me some funds were coming, and that happened very quickly. And it came at a time when I really needed it; it saved me.”  She and her daughter recently moved from a hotel to an apartment, where they’ll remain until their home is ready to be reoccupied. There’s a lot of work to be done, but thanks to the Hope Fund Marty has been able to stay at work, and keep her family’s lives moving ahead during a time of great uncertainty.

“The Hope Fund gave me a window of opportunity to breathe and keep it all going,” she says. “It really was a lifesaver. There’s nothing like working for a company that you know truly stands behind you. It’s not just words, but actions. Through the Hope Fund, HCA really does walk the walk.”