OUR STORY

We did not start Health4NoVA with a big plan.

It started at Mission of Mercy’s Piedmont Smiles temporary clinic in Warrenton, Virginia, in 2023. Sean worked in triage, screening patients and talking with families before they were seen. William worked as a dental assistant, helping dentists care for patients and hearing their stories chairside. At the end of the day, we talked about our experiences and were surprised by how similar the stories we had heard were.

One conversation in particular has never left us. We met a young mother who had recently lost her job at a small neighborhood store after a large corporate retailer moved into the area. Her husband was working two jobs, but their family was still struggling with the rising cost of living. Their two children had Type 1 diabetes and depended on expensive medication. Their income was too high for Medicaid, yet they could not comfortably afford the care their children needed.

She asked us questions we did not have all the answers to: How can we receive continued care? What programs are available? Could my children qualify? Where do I apply?

Her story was not the only one. At clinic after clinic, we met families who had never heard of Medicaid, FAMIS, MCCP, or other programs that might help them. We met working families who earned too much to qualify for public assistance yet struggled to afford basic care, and recent immigrants facing illness without insurance or knowing where to turn. Story after story. Mission after mission, the same problem kept emerging.

We began to see that resources could exist, but families could still slip through the cracks of a confusing healthcare system simply because they did not know what was available, whether they qualified, or how to apply.

We wanted to do more than help someone for a day at a clinic. We wanted to create a place where families could find trusted information and understand where to turn next.

That became Health4NoVA.

Today, we help Northern Virginia individuals and families find and understand information about healthcare, public-assistance programs, preventive health, and community resources. We cannot remove every barrier to care, but we hope we can make the next step easier to see.