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hi friends,

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thank you for your patience, support and inquiries in regards to paperflower foundation. i wanted to take a moment to explain where we are, what we have been working toward, and why getting this right has taken longer than we originally anticipated.

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as people in our communities face unemployment, financial stress, rising costs, and an increasingly difficult economic environment, access to mental healthcare can become one of the first things people have to sacrifice. we created paperflower foundation in response to this, and many of us have spent many nights building this framework.

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we are proud to note that we now have 503(c)(3) status which allows us to operate as a recognized charitable organization and accept tax-deductible charitable contributions. that being said, we are not a grassroots mutual aid organization and this leaves us subject to bureaucratic policies within our state and nationwide that impede our ability to distribute aid on the level that we dreamed to. 

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as a healthcare provider and practice owner, i have witnessed the struggles of both patients and providers navigating healthcare through both AHCCCS and commercial insurance. patients struggle with understanding terminology, networks of providers, billing, prior authorizations among other barriers for them. providers struggle to receive reimbursement rates, and are bound to the insurance companies' mercy. insurance companies hold power over the entire healthcare industry.

 

i am familiar with this, and now i have also become deeply familiar with the system built to protect it. 

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we are now a formal charitable organization operating under a heavily regulated system by design. every dollar we raise that we hoped to distribute as needed became subject to layers upon layers of federal and state laws, regulations, and insurance contracts.

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when we moved into exploring avenues of being able to work within the frameworks that exist statewide & nationwide to operate, we ran into insurance restrictions. restrictions that, in some circumstances, prevented us from providing assistance in the way we originally envisioned. for both commercial insurance and AHCCCS.  there are restrictions and rules that prevent attempts to intervene when the system fails people.

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we have been shocked, disappointed and humbled to see how difficult it is to help people. 

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to protect our foundation and ensure we are doing things absolutely soundly, we had to slow down to re-evaluate the structure. i have ensured that we are taking no shortcuts; and i also am not going to quietly re-launch this at some point under a guise of "it's just a change we decided to make." the truth is that the system is so deeply broken, that even attempts to fix the flaws are blocked by built in regulations and policies made & influenced by both private insurance companies and governments.

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capitalism protects itself. 

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i am in the final phases of the restructure which unfortunately comes with a lot of paperwork, policies, algorithms, and back-end work prior to re-launch.

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we are seeking volunteers to help. our greatest need are people who are not mental health clinicians to ensure that the organization remains patient and community-centered with balances in leadership. ​​

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we will continue our mission and relaunch soon.

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and we promise to do it in a way that is sustainable, transparent, and worthy of the people who trust us with their donations and their stories.

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in solidarity,

maria ingalla, dnp, pmhnpbc

founder