COMMUNITY

TheMesaTribune.com | @EVTNow /EVTNow

Mesa woman helps feed hungry local children

BY NICHOLAS JOHNSEN

Cronkite News

Joan Leafman spent much of her life as a medical researcher – teaching in a doctoral program, presenting studies at conferences and publishing research.

“But there comes a point in your life,” she said, “where you don’t want to talk – you want to do.”

For Leafman, that moment came when her daughter, Corbin Leafman, 30, died of breast cancer. Corbin taught kindergarten at Title 1 schools, working with children from low-income families, and she made it her mission to ensure that no child went hungry. “She very specifically asked to be remembered by how she lived, and not why she died,” Leafman said of her daughter.

Inspired by Corbin’s resolve, Leafman founded Corbin’s Legacy in 2015 to help reduce food and medical insecurity among underserved schoolchildren. The Mesa organization runs such programs as Food for Thought, delivering meals to kids in classrooms, and Weekend Food Warriors, which send backpacks of food home with children and parents on Fridays.

In July 2020, Corbin’s Legacy delivered its two-millionth meal to a family in need.

But providing meals isn’t the only way the charity aims to help children. In partnership with A.T. Still University’s School of Osteopathic Medicine, Corbin’s Legacy opened the Simon Clinic at Emerson Elementary School in Mesa to provide health care to children right on school grounds.

The clinic, named for Dr. Harvey Simon, a public health pediatrician and professor at A.T. Still, provides physical exams, eye checks and dental screening to about 25 students daily, Mondays through Thursdays.

seeSIMON page 18

Joan Leafman was inspired by her daughter, Corbin, left, to launch a foundation to help underserved children. Corbin Leafman, a teacher, died of breast cancer at age 30 (Courtesy

of Joan Leafman)

Gilbert man motivated for Arizona AIDS Walk

TRIBUNE STAFF REPORT

Since Lorenzo Garza of Gilbert participated in his first AIDS Walk nearly 20 years ago in San Antonio. So much has changed, both for him and for society’s acceptance and understanding of the impact of HIV and AIDS.

What hasn’t changed, and what continues to motivate him in his inaugural Arizona AIDS Walk & 5K Fun Run on Saturday, Feb. 19, at Tempe Beach Park is the memory of his brother David.

“My brother died of AIDS in 1989 at the height of the pandemic and he’s who I think about,” Garza said. “He died a week before is 23rd birthday. I was a 17-yearold junior in high school and it had a significant impact.”

Not just in the heartbreaking loss of his brother, but in coming to grips with a fact in his life that so many young men and women still battle with.

Garza pushed through that closet door just before turning 30. That door is now permanently closed.

“I just knew I wasn’t being myself,” he said. “I was at a point where I needed to be my authentic true self, whatever that meant, whatever the consequences.” The first hurdle was telling his parents. “I was so terrified of that, but once they knew and once they came to terms with it, I moved forward.”

That forward motion will serve him well as he negotiates the 5K run at this year’s event. Proceeds from the 2022 AIDS Walk & 5K Fun Run will directly benefit Aunt Rita’s Foundation’s 14 partner agencies providing critical HIV services including testing, treatment, behavioral health, housing and prevention, among others.

Garza carries an even stronger connection this year as his employer, Carvana, is

Gilbert Resident Lorenzo Garza, left, finds motivation for next Saturday’s Arizona AIDS Walk in the fact that his older brother, David, died of the disease. (Special to The Tribune)

Simon said the classroom-turned-clinic allows children to receive consistent, episodic care.

“I suggested to Dr. Leafman that we do something on-site at the school, because that’s where the children are,” he said. “I believe very strongly that coming to the schools and coming to where the children are is the best way of reaching them.”

Open-access, community-based health care is a service that Simon has worked toward since his first days in medicine. During his pediatric residency at a maternal and child health center in the Bronx in New York City, Simon spent much of his time out in the communities that he cared for, speaking with teachers and meeting patients where they were.

“Providing care like that is a very different experience for everyone,” he said. “It’s fun for the doctors, but it’s wonderful for the patients. When they’re more comfortable, you have a much more relaxed interaction with them.”

Simon said providing community-embedded care is an objective of A.T. Still University, which partners with Corbin’s Legacy to staff the Emerson Elementary clinic. Medical school professors recruit their students to receive hands-on experience.

“We like to give them responsibility,” he said. “It’s very fulfilling to see the next generation of medical providers coming along.”

Those recruitment efforts are led by Angie Kiselyk, director of physician assistant admissions at the School of Osteopathic

Medicine. She’s also an assistant professor and family practice physician assistant. To Kiselyk, the Simon Clinic offers students a break from classroom lectures and the chance to get some real-world experience. “It’s just a great opportunity, as the professor helping facilitate these students, seeing their growth, seeing them do physicals and exams, and helping bridge that gap of access to health care. It’s very important,” she said. Hispanics represented 53% of Emerson’s 814 students in the 2020-2021 school year. Nationally, Latinos have generally increased health risks and less access to health care. The Brookings InstituJoan Leafman founded Corbin’s Legacy in 2015 to help tion in September 2020 reduce food and medical insecurity among underserved schoolchildren in Mesa. (Mingson Lau/Cronkite News) found that Latinos are at a 66% greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, and once diagnosed, they have worse outcomes than non-Hispanic white individuals. The same report indicates that Latinos have less access to health care, and 1 in 4 have no health insurance. The COVID-19

THE MESA TRIBUNE | FEBRUARY 13, 2022 pandemic has made things that much harder: About 37% of Latinos have had someone in their household lose employer-provided health insurance benefits due to the economic downturn that began in March 2020.

The Simon Clinic is attempting to address these disparities through a policy of not turning anyone away. If patients need further medical treatment, the clinic refers them to Adelante Healthcare, a community health center with locations across Maricopa County that offers affordable payment options and discounts depending on income.

Student health is a priority of Emerson Elementary Principal Christel Arbogast, who recognized a need for screening services. “We wanted them to have the opportunity to visit a doctor, even when they were healthy, to get some baseline data,” she said.

Arbogast said the clinic has even helped with attendance rates. Screening for such conditions as asthma or eczema, and connecting students with treatment, can increase their overall comfort in the learning environment.

It’s that tangible change that motivates Leafman to continue her work.

“I feed children, and I make sure that we take care of them medically,” she said. “It’s not complicated. You just do it. ■

AIDS from page 17

a major sponsor. Garza, 49, is Carvana’s senior manager for vendor relationships.

“I could not be prouder that our company is participating,” he said. “We want people to know that Carvana cares about everyone, including those impacted by HIV and AIDS.”

Even with the progress in preventing and addressing HIV, Garza said, “I don’t want people to forget that this is a moment in history to continue to fight until HIV is cured. I’m so happy that it is no longer a death sentence for many people.

“Looking back at videos, documentaries and pictures, it was a terrible time. Today, it’s a different story. I know many people living with HIV and I stay involved because knowledge is power and people need to know.”

AIDS Walk Arizona and 5K Fun Run is the largest gathering in Arizona to support people living with HIV and raise community awareness. The AIDS Walk registration tent and the vendor village open at 1 p.m. The walk and run will start at 3 p.m. Information and registration forms can be found at aidswalkaz.org.

Co-chairs are Regina Gazelle Wells, who overcame serious struggles with substance abuse to become a committed trans activist and advocate for trans individuals affected by homelessness, substance abuse and HIV, and Elijah Palles, whose drag stage name is Eddie Broadway. He is Mr. Trans USA 2020.

Registration fees are $20 for students, $35 for individual walkers, $35 for virtual walkers and $45 for runners. Fees include an AIDS Walk shirt and sponsor swag.

Registration for PAWS for the Cause for walkers bringing their dogs, is $10 and includes a PAWS for the Cause bandana. KIDS for the Cause (12 and under) can participate for free, but registration is required and they must be accompanied by an adult. Registration includes and AIDS Walk shirt and Kids for the Cause swag from the AIDS Walk vendor village.

Information on Aunt Rita’s Founda-

tion: auntritas.org. ■