{"id":206784,"date":"2026-07-10T08:00:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T13:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.centralhealth.net\/?p=206784"},"modified":"2026-07-09T14:41:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T19:41:29","slug":"cooking-up-a-new-chapter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/es\/cooking-up-a-new-chapter\/","title":{"rendered":"Cocinando un nuevo cap\u00edtulo"},"content":{"rendered":"
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How Central Health helped Kafaren Fairly reclaim her health, home, and passion for food<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Kafaren cree firmemente en el poder de la comida.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my passion,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

As a lifelong cook from Mississippi, her culinary background has taken her to countless kitchens in the South, where she\u2019s fed thousands of people. Shrimp dishes, chicken and beef entrees, even homemade mac-and-cheese. Anything you can think of, she\u2019s created it. <\/p>\n

But her specialty is sauteed vegetables. When she\u2019s at home and her creativity is flowing, she\u2019ll splash a bit of lemon pepper and paprika on zucchini, squash, cabbage, or peas. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s my little concoction,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

Kafaren delivers food, she says, to bring love into the world. <\/p><\/div>\n

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\"Kafaren<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Pero hace un a\u00f1o, tras mudarse a Austin y luego pasar un breve per\u00edodo en la calle por su cuenta, enfrent\u00f3 un desaf\u00edo mucho mayor que el de la cocina. <\/p>\n

Dealing with Chronic Issues<\/h3>\n

When Kafaren, 60, arrived in Austin last June, her health was deteriorating. She had an unstable foot, Type 2 diabetes, and diabetic retinopathy. Notably, she was experiencing eye floaters, which are small specks of cloudy material that impact vision, and had cataracts in both eyes. <\/p>\n

She had spent all her life in Biloxi, Mississippi with Kevin, her husband of 39 years, and their children. It was Thanksgiving a few years ago with the family when she broke her ankle, prompting surgery and a few screws jutted into the bone. Years later, it made her shaky. <\/p>\n

Now in Austin, Kafaren knew she needed help. Mere days into her tenure as a resident of Travis County, she called 2-1-1, a free social service hotline for non-emergencies, and was advised to visit the Sunrise Communities Homeless Navigation Center. A short time later, she enrolled in MAP (the Medical Access Program), a coverage option by Central Health for Travis County residents with low income. <\/p>\n

By August, Kafaren\u2019s need for health care outweighed the services she had been given. It prompted her to make the hardest decision of her life: entering the Eighth Street Shelter, a facility for unhoused women and transgender people living in Austin. <\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone was so hurt by me making that choice,\u201d she said, \u201cbut I had to do that to get to where I am now.\u201d <\/p>\n

CommUnityCare Health Centers, Central Health\u2019s ambulatory care partner and a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), utilizes a street medicine team to provide care to people in need at places like campsites, the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH), the Marshalling Yard, and the Eighth Street Shelter. There\u2019s also the Central Health Bridge Team, which is dedicated to helping Travis County people who are unhoused. The Central Health system works together to provide wraparound care, which includes social and other support services.<\/p>\n

At the time, Kafaren was using a cane to walk. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe had a complicated personal and social situation that led to homelessness and was staying at 8th street,\u201d said Dr. Feba Thomas, who directed Kafaren\u2019s care and is also Central Health\u2019s Director of Informatics.\n <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Kafaren\" <\/p><\/div>\n

\n \"Kafaren\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Making Changes<\/h3>\n

Before Dr. Thomas did a single thing, she looked at Kafaren and asked her a question. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are your priorities?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI think when you\u2019re unhoused, you don\u2019t have autonomy,\u201d Dr. Thomas said. \u201cSociety and different people tell you to do X, Y, and Z to get your needs met. You can\u2019t sit down. You can\u2019t camp. You can\u2019t go to the bathroom. For me, respecting people and treating them like humans with autonomy is important.\u201d <\/p>\n

It was a question Kafaren did not consider initially, either. What were her priorities<\/i>? For years, visits to the doctor weren\u2019t enjoyable. They felt empty, as if she wasn\u2019t being seen or heard. In Mississippi, where she held insurance coverage through the health insurance marketplace, she said she was cast aside, unable to make routine appointments. <\/p>\n

Maybe all of this was a reason for her depression. But in an instant, that all changed. The past seemed so far in the rearview. <\/p>\n

Inside the exam room, Dr. Thomas treated Kafaren\u2019s knee to reduce inflammation and pain. <\/p>\n

Within days, the ball began to roll. <\/p>\n

First came appointments with behavioral health providers, and a referral to Integral Care. Next came cataract surgery to improve Kafaren\u2019s vision. More referrals followed, forwarding her to specialists that could help her eyes and feet. <\/p>\n

There were appointments at the Capital Plaza Specialty Clinic\u2019s bridge clinic and the Central Health East Austin Specialty Clinic, as well as health care pitstops at the ARCH to receive primary care through CommUnityCare Health Centers providers. <\/p>\n

All this health care was covered under MAP. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe saved my life,\u201d Kafaren said of Dr. Thomas. <\/p>\n

Moving Forward<\/h3>\n

When Kafaren was on the road toward better health, she found a job through The University of Texas as a cook for Jester City Limits, a university housing and dining hall. <\/p>\n

And that passion for food? It bubbled back to the surface. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been a cook all my life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Eventually, Kafaren found permanent footing elsewhere, too.<\/p>\n

At the start of the new year, she met with a Central Health case manager to complete a Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) application. After being approved in February, she found housing in March. <\/p>\n

By June, Kafaren was comfortably moved into a one-bedroom apartment. Outside her place sat two lawn chairs and a few plants. Inside was a futon and a television. A Bible laid neatly on an ottoman. Kafaren\u2019s biggest point of pride, though? Her refrigerator. <\/p>\n

Inside the door revealed orderly stacks of food and drink. <\/p>\n

Just the other night, she made \u201cWemby-tizers,\u201d chicken and vegetable kabobs named after San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to get off track,\u201d she said of the Spurs, who lost in the NBA Finals to the New York Knicks, 4-1, \u201cbut I\u2019m hurt (by the Spurs).\u201d <\/p>\n

The basketball score notwithstanding, Kafaren was in good spirits. <\/p>\n

She\u2019s healthy, happy, and ready to cook again. <\/p>\n

\u201cAustin is my home now,\u201d she said.\n <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How Central Health helped Kafaren Fairly reclaim her health, home, and passion for food Kafaren Fairly believes in the power of food. \u201cIt\u2019s my passion,\u201d she says. As a lifelong […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":206785,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[68,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-206784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-featured","category-news","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206784"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":206836,"href":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206784\/revisions\/206836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}