Stuart Singer is doing all he can to ensure healthy futures. If there's a deserving recipient of a National Service Impact Award, it's Stuart Singer. He is kind, energetic, smart, has initiative, cheerful, and extremely dedicated to helping those in need and civic engagement. In addition to being an Ambassador for RSVP and an Emergency Preparedness speaker, Stuart is helping people gain access to health insurance by volunteering on a hotline through the Community Health Advocates (CHA) of the Community Service Society in New York, NY. In New York City, 1.3 million residents are uninsured and two-thirds of the uninsured population lives below 200% of poverty. Through his works at CHA, Stuart has had a tremendous impact on those who are struggling to make financial ends meet due to their lack of health insurance. Since April 2011, Stuart has been going above and beyond in his volunteer position at CHA every Monday for eight hours.

Through CHA, Stuart has answered over 400 calls and assisted 331 New Yorkers who are either uninsured or trying to manage and/or understand their existing health insurance. Many of the calls he receives are not simple, one answer questions. He manages 10-15 calls a day that could last anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. Many of the people calling into the hotline are in extremely dire situations. No matter how complicated, Stuart handles each call with finesse, patience and even charm. Not only does he do everything he can to help the callers, but he has a calming effect and often makes them laugh. Many times recipients of his warm assistance call him back to thank him.

Stuart's building the capacity of individuals by educating them on their healthcare options and therefore preparing them to make informed decisions to get coverage. He's building the capacity of nonprofits and communities by ensuring consumers are utilizing the programs for which they're eligible.

As a result of Stuart's successful volunteering, he's become a trainer of new volunteers. He is expanding opportunities to serve not only through his role as an RSVP Ambassador, but he also assists with the formal training of new CHA volunteers by presenting on his cases and having new volunteers shadow him.

In addition to guiding callers to appropriate resources and answering complex questions about insurance coverage, Stuart goes above and beyond and also acts as an advocate for his callers. Instead of referring a caller to a program or agency with the risk of them not knowing their rights, he often makes the calls with them on the line and advocates on their behalf.

When told about the nomination for this award, Stuart said, "I'm touched, but I feel bad because I get more from volunteering than I give." It is this generous and selfless spirit that makes Stuart Singer a perfect candidate. His dedication to volunteerism and serving people in need are truly remarkable. Without his tenacity many New Yorkers would be without health insurance or may not know their entitlements.