Charitable Work

Marissa was a young teenager when she met her abuser, David. They began dating and everything seemed great. David proposed marriage. Then he started physically abusing her. She broke up with him which made him pursue her more.  David’s mother begged Marissa to return to him. So she did. As it turns out, David’s mother was abused by David’s father for many years. 

David beat Marissa ferociously throughout the years even as she was pregnant and nursing their son. He broke her nose and teeth multiple times. She couldn't breathe well through her nose and grew more depressed. She tried to leave him several times and came to this county.

David would pursue and beat her more. Marissa finally was able to escape with her son and lives under an alias. Marissa still fears for her life if he should ever find her. Marissa's story you know.

In connection with her affiliation with the R.O.S.E. Fund, Dr. Halaas performed a pro bono rhinoplasty and nasal septal repair surgery on Marissa. She is very happy with her repaired and improved nose and grateful to Dr. Halaas for her surgical skill and caring disposition. It has changed her life.

After many years of in vitro fertilization, Amy and her husband were finally able to conceive their daughter, Allana. Unfortunately, at a very young age Allana was diagnosed with leukemia. Allana battled the disease for many years. The cancer went into remission for years and then resurfaced several times throughout her childhood. In spite of her health challenges, Allana grew to be a friendly, bright , lovely child well loved by everyone who knew her. Unfortunately, the cancer finally returned at age 11 when she underwent a bone marrow transplant.  Complications from the transplant arose and just 10 months later Alanna succumbed to the disease and passed away. Amy became terribly sad and struggled to find life worthwhile. Amy’s finances has been completely depleted from the hospital and healthcare bills for Alanna. Dr. Halaas wanted to make a difference in Amy’s life after all she went through. After Dr. Halaas and Amy met to discuss what Dr. Halaas could do to  help her feel better about herself and moving forward, Dr. Halaas performed an upper blepharoplasty procedure and gave Amy a chin implant.  The pro bono plastic surgery helped make it a drop easier for Amy to get up in the morning and look in the mirror and move forward with her life.