Jim Zimmerman, executive director of HealthReach clinic, approached the Abbott Fund, one of the organizations that helped fund HABLA in 1992, about providing additional funds to continue the very successful and valuable medical interpretation program. The Abbott Fund agreed to additional funds for HABLA, pledging $100,000 to be split over two years, which would keep the program afloat and support its expansion. With this support, Zimmerman and his staff expanded the program so that it reached more non-English-speaking people in the Chicago area. After several years of growth, the HABLA program caught the media's attention, and with this publicity, was poised to serve as a model for other communities in the United States.