Healthcare was not always within her reach.

She was our grandmother, and long before Broches for a Cause existed, she showed us what it meant to carry light through circumstances that offered very little of it.

Maria Dolores lived with renal failure and needed dialysis three times a week. Without health insurance, receiving that care consistently was extraordinarily difficult. At times, the emergency room became the only option. We would wait beside her for as long as 48 hours for treatment.

We could make that journey once a week. She needed it three times.

There were times we simply could not afford the medication she needed. During one emergency room visit, a doctor suggested that Maria Dolores return to her country, expressing concern that her continued use of emergency services was taking resources from citizens.

And still, Maria Dolores remained remarkably full of joy.

She smiled easily and carried a warmth that hardship never seemed able to take from her. She had a way of looking beyond circumstance and seeing the person in front of her.

She passed away in 2016.

There was no Broches for a Cause then. We never imagined that one day a broche would carry her name.

Today, one does.

Maria Dolores was created in her memory and in support of Volunteers in Medicine of Southern Nevada, helping bring healthcare within reach for people who might otherwise go without it.

The care once beyond her reach can now be brought closer to someone else.