HAWTHORNE, Calif. — Seeing her child ill not only breaks Claudia Zamora’s heart but also her wallet. She says as a single parent and a small business owner, she can’t afford health insurance on her own.

“I try to make sure she is ok to come to school. Rather than her missing school. Three weeks ago, she was really, really sick, so I had to take her to the doctor,” Zamora said.

Sick days 9-year-old Andrea Zamora wishes she didn’t have to take.

“It just feels weird. I feel like I should be at school,” Andrea Zamora said.

Since the 2020-2021 school year, the chronic absenteeism rate nearly doubled in the Hawthorne School District from 17.5% to 30% in the 2022-2023 school year, according to Ed-Data.

Superintendent Brian Markarian said the district is hoping to keep more students in the classroom with the addition of the Maxine Waters Health and Dignity Center at York Elementary School.

The center will provide free to low-cost access to Venice Family Clinic’s health care services for the district’s 7,000 students and eventually, their families.

“So often we see that student absences can be attributed to either waiting for health care or possibly just not feeling well and not being sure if health care is needed,” Markarian said. “What we want to do is keep students in school, get them into school sooner and prevent them from having to stay at home.”

The Center was funded by a $14 million grant from the California Community School Partnership Program.

This will be Venice Family Clinic’s first site at an elementary school that provides access to care two days per week, said Dr. Mitesh Popat, CEO of Venice Family Clinic.

“The Venice Family Clinic staff will be here. We’ve got our clinicians, our medical doctors, nurse practitioners, behavioral health staff. We bring our whole comprehensive team approach to care,” Popat said.

Claudia said she’s relieved to see access to health care she can afford.

“If she gets sick, I don’t have to worry so much about her wellbeing. I’m excited,” she said.