At 17, Annabel Luna-Smith arrived in the U.S. from Venezuela with just enough English to say her name.
Luna-Smith knew the alphabet. Colors. Numbers. But she could not hold a conversation or navigate college and access healthcare in a country where every system has its own language.
So, she learned what to ask, where to go, how to find help — even for something as simple as a free flu shot. Along the way, Luna-Smith realized she was not the only person trying to make sense of unfamiliar systems.
Now a community engagement strategist at UNT Health Fort Worth, Luna-Smith, 45, is a connector linking institutions to residents, patients to services and families to resources.
The work earned her a nomination for 52 Faces of Community, the Fort Worth Report’s weekly series highlighting unsung local heroes.
“It’s my purpose,” Luna-Smith said. “That’s my why.”
Frances Villafane, associate director of Community Partnerships at the American Cancer Society, described Luna-Smith as a “road map” for newcomers, immigrants and underserved residents — someone who turns complex health systems into real help.
Social worker Isel Collazo called her a trusted bridge for Hispanic communities, making sure everybody feels welcomed, understood and connected to support.
Luna-Smith’s drive came from her father, who entered the maritime industry in Venezuela after high school, learned English and became a businessman. As a girl, she helped prepare letters and invoices for his first clients on the typewriter she used for an eighth-grade keyboarding class. Her father drove an old car with no air conditioning.
“I saw him hustle with no excuse,” Luna-Smith said. “He was going to figure it out.”
Years later, Luna-Smith found herself doing the same in the U.S. She had to figure out English, then college, then healthcare. Every step brought a new vocabulary, and she found that the language of campus life, medicine and public systems can either open doors or keep people out.
After college, Luna-Smith moved to Texas from Iowa and took a patient liaison job at JPS Health Network, though she knew little about healthcare, she said. What she did know was that she was bilingual, outgoing and good with people. She also knew the confusion of navigating resources and services.
For a decade at JPS, she helped patients and families to understand appointments, paperwork and resources. Again and again, she saw her own family in the people in front of her: her grandfather in older adults, her relatives in immigrants and her younger self in people trying to navigate the system alone.
“I’m going to be the brave one,” Luna-Smith said. “And if that opens the door for other people, then that is a blessing.”
“Annabel is short in stature, but her heart is as big as Texas.”
Amanda Applon, community outreach coordinator for Tarrant County Commissioner Roderick Miles Jr.
At UNT Health, Luna-Smith connects the institution with community partners and sends students into communities where they can come to grips with healthcare needs beyond clinic walls, she said.
Her service stretches beyond professional work. Luna-Smith serves on the bilingual education advisory board for James L. West Center for Dementia Care, sits on healthcare committees and task forces, and volunteers at back-to-school events or at church.
Sometimes, she said, the most important thing she can offer is translation — making sure language does not block someone from food, care or support.
“At the very least, I’m going to be there to translate,” Luna-Smith said.
For 20 years, she lived in the U.S. without her family nearby. After she became a citizen, more relatives moved to the country with few resources and started over, learning the same systems Luna-Smith once learned alone.
Those moments proved what she now believes: Resources can change a life, but only if people know how to reach them.
Luna-Smith brings people something systems often lack, which is a human voice, a listening ear and the passion to follow through, said Amanda Applon, community outreach coordinator for Tarrant County Commissioner Roderick Miles Jr.
“Annabel is short in stature, but her heart is as big as Texas,” Applon said.
About a decade ago, while working at JPS, Luna-Smith met an undocumented older man from Mexico who needed dialysis. His immigration status prevented him from accessing regular treatment in Tarrant County, she said, so his only option was to wait until his condition became critical enough for the emergency room.
Then, he could receive care.
The memory stays with her because the man was someone’s grandfather, father and spouse, she said.
“If it was your grandpa, would you want things to be any different?” Luna-Smith said.
She never knew what happened to him. She only knew he came for help, and no real solution was provided.
Still, she keeps going.
Sometimes that means holding someone’s hand step by step. Or building programs for people she may never meet. Or just translating at church so a stranger can understand the help available for them.
She knows — she was once the girl standing in line at the mall’s health fair for a free flu shot.
The 52 Faces of Community program aims to honor “unsung heroes” making an extraordinary difference every day, but Luna-Smith does not see herself as one. The word feels too big, she said. She works in healthcare, but she does not provide medical care, perform surgeries or treat patients.
But she knows what it means to stand beside someone who is scared and help them take the next step.
“I get to do this work,” Luna-Smith said.
Dang Le is the higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at dang.le@fortworthreport.org.
The Fort Worth Report partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.
The Report’s higher education coverage is supported in part by major higher education institutions in Tarrant County, including Tarleton State University, Tarrant County College, Texas A&M-Fort Worth, Texas Christian University, Texas Wesleyan University, the University of Texas at Arlington and UNT Health Fort Worth.
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This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.