A Family’s Gift Becomes Lifetime Legacy

Drs. Jeffrey Simmons and Yolangel Hernandez Suarez

A family of community-based doctors is working with Florida International University to create a legacy that reflects their commitment to services for neurodiverse adults. Did you know that FIU is home to one of the only University-based programs in the nation that promotes health, wellness and overall functioning for neurodiverse adults?

Drs. Jeffrey Simmons and Yolangel Hernandez Suarez worked with FIU and their own financial advisor to make planned gift to FIU Embrace, an immersive, hands-on support program for adults with autism, intellectual disabilities and other neurodevelopmental disorders.

The gift will establish the Simmons+Hernandez Suarez Fellows Program and will provide funding for two-year research fellowships or one-year clinical practicums at FIU Embrace. Both types of fellows will be offered leadership development training. The fellowship will advance FIU Embrace initiatives to explore and develop evidence-based “systems of care” for neurodiverse adults.

It’s a program that hits home for the couple. Hernandez Suarez, the vice president for clinical innovation at Conviva Care Solutions, and Simmons, a cardiologist and an executive at Humana, are married and have two children who are participants of FIU Embrace. The two have long been engaged members of the FIU community. Yolangel is a former member of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine faculty and is a co-founder of FIU Embrace.

Planning a gift that included a life insurance policy made possible a level of philanthropy of which the couple had never imagined.

Dr. Hernandez Suarez said she and her husband are delighted to be able to make a gift that will support this program at FIU Embrace.

“There is a local and national need for health care providers who deeply understand the adult autism community,” she said. “We can think of no better partner for this work than FIU. The inclusive and forward-thinking values of the university align perfectly with our goals.”

An additional cash gift from her parents, Yolangel S. and Manuel Hernandez, will allow FIU Embrace to begin the program and recruit and fund the first fellow, ensuring an immediate impact at FIU.

Create Your Legacy

Join Drs. Jeffrey Simmons and Yolangel Hernandez Suarez in investing in the future of FIU by making a planned gift to the University. Contact us to get started.