In Houston, our nation’s fourth-largest city, we have the largest medical complex in the world,
but entire neighborhoods have limited access to healthcare and healthy food. We also have
fourteen major institutions of higher education, almost all with students focusing on health-allied
studies. These students have innovative ideas and a desire to make a difference in their
communities, but they lack the connections and training to make their vision a reality. We work
with over 40 area agencies, ascertaining their greatest needs, and then deploy our 80-plus
trained graduate student Fellows to create programs that address these unmet health needs.
We support and guide these Fellows as they design, implement, evaluate, and plan for the
sustainability of their project, serving as an incubator for their inventive ideas. At the end of the
year, we have a cadre of service-oriented professionals with the skills and experience to
address health disparities and the commitment to continue to work with marginalized
communities. In the process, the community is impacted, and Fellows are transformed.