A reason to keep going

When Rosa first called WellSense, she wasn’t sure anyone would pick up. She had been struggling with depression and anxiety for years quietly, mostly alone. She had stopped leaving her apartment. She had stopped answering the phone. Some days, getting out of bed felt like too much to ask.

Rosa was a MassHealth member, and a WellSense Care Manager named Danielle had been trying to reach her for weeks. When Rosa finally answered, she almost hung up.

“She didn’t push,” Rosa said later. “She just talked to me. Like a person.”

Danielle listened. She learned that Rosa had not seen a doctor in more than two years. She had no therapist, no support group and no one nearby who checked in on her. She was also managing high blood pressure, a condition that gets harder to control when mental health goes untreated.

Danielle didn’t try to fix everything at once. She started small. First, she helped Rosa find a therapist who accepted MassHealth and spoke Spanish—Rosa’s first language. Then she connected Rosa with a primary care doctor close to home and arranged a ride to her first appointment at no cost to her.

Week by week, things began to shift. Rosa started going to therapy. She began taking her blood pressure medication regularly. Danielle followed up often, not just to check boxes, but to ask how Rosa was really doing.

“She remembered things I told her,” Rosa said. “She remembered that my daughter’s birthday was coming up. She asked about it.”

Over time, Rosa started to look forward to those calls. They became a steady point in her week. They were a reminder that someone was paying attention. Danielle also helped Rosa connect with a community wellness program where she met other women going through similar experiences. For the first time in years, Rosa didn’t feel so alone.

Today, Rosa still sees her therapist every other week. Her blood pressure is under control. She attended her daughter’s birthday party, something she wasn’t sure she could do just months before.

Rosa says Danielle gave her a reason to keep going. But those who know Rosa’s story know she had that reason all along. She just needed someone in her corner to help her see it.

Her story is a reminder of what care can look like when it starts with listening.

Names and locations have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.