Letter From Our Founder

Dear Friends,

I grew up in a rural section of East Tennessee. I had a very happy home-life but was exposed at an early age to people who lived in poverty. Several people who lived in my community did not have enough food on a regular basis and their primary source of clothes was from friends and neighbors. The community helped these impoverished people to make it and at the same time enabled them to retain some dignity.

After becoming a pediatrician, I found that my “community” had changed but there were still impoverished families, many of whom did not have enough of the basic necessities. My attention was drawn to the children in these families. I felt strongly that something must be done to prevent these children from going down the path of poverty that their parents had been unable to avoid.

In the mid-eighties, I found there were many people in Roanoke who shared my concerns for these children. Because of these concerns, CHIP was started in 1987. We initially addressed the health care concerns of these children. We soon realized that if we were going to interrupt this path toward poverty, we had to do more than provide good health care. We had to address the social issues that were at the core of the problem. It was these social problems that caused the lack of health care as well as lack of other basic needs.

This was the direction we chose for CHIP then and it is the direction today. I feel sure it will be our direction tomorrow. We strive to improve health care as well as all the other basic needs of the family by trying to help them upgrade their standard of living. We give a hand-up rather than a handout. By this approach, we enable the families to retain their dignity and self-worth as they strive toward self-sufficiency.

I am proud of what CHIP has accomplished over the past twenty years, but with the ever tightening of federal and state funds, there is less and less available for medical and social programs for the disadvantaged. The need continues to be great. We must remain diligent.

Sincerely,
 

Douglas E. Pierce, MD

• First Planning Meeting held at Hotel Roanoke on May 6th
• A Task Force is formed to develop the CHIP model
• First grant received, from the Virginia Department of Health

• First 6 children enrolled
• First staff hired
• Virginia Tech agrees to conduct CHIP evaluation

• 300 children enrolled
• CHIP received $1.2 Million Kellogg Grant
• CHIP moves from the TAP building to its new office on Luck Avenue

• Children’s Defense Fund makes a site visit
• CHIP is selected to present at the National Resource Coalition Conference
• Media stories highlight our progress

• Roanoke Academy of Medicine Alliance begins volunteer work
• CHIP receives first-time funding from the City of Roanoke
• Kellogg grant provides for replication of CHIP across Virginia

• 1,000th child enrolled
• Dr. Doug Pierce, CHIP Founder, receives the President’s Award from the American Academy of Pediatricians, Virginia Chapter

• Site visits from Virginia Health Care Foundation, National Center for Children in Poverty, and the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services
• CHIP incorporates as a 501(c)3 organization
• CHIP receives the National Association of Counties Award

• Fund development efforts begin
• City of Salem donates house for office space

• Fundraiser to help reopen Hotel Roanoke
• Board of Directors holds its first Planning Retreat
• New slogan adopted: “Children who have health have hope.”

• Botetourt County Kiwanis Club becomes involved
• 55 physicians and 7 dentists provide care to CHIP enrolled children
• New Volunteer Coordinator is hired, efforts expanded

• Dr. Doug Pierce receives the Humanitarian Award from the National Conference on Christians and Jews
• First Annual Tug for Tots fundraiser held
• CHIP volunteers win state, national awards

• CHIP reaches fundraising goal of $350,000
• A new Public Relations Committee is formed
• 10 Year Anniversary Celebration

• Additional nurses are hired and caseloads restructured to enhance service delivery
• CHIP becomes a United Way Partner Agency
• Case management and patient tracking software developed and implemented
• Introduced Parents As Teachers Curriculum to standardize educational home visits

• CHIP kicks off two new fundraisers, Breakfast With Santa and Pumpkin Fest
• Mental Health Case Manager added for emotionally at-risk children
• Partnership established with EvenStart Family Literacy Program
• Dr. Gabe Brown sees his first patient at the Carilion Pediatric Dental Clinic

• CHIP embarks upon a capital campaign after Carilion donates 25-year lease on the former Physicians to Children building
• Carilion Community Health Fund pledges $150,000 over the next 3 years
• The James A. Meador Foundation donates $300,000 for the renovation of the new CHIP building

• Van donated by Quantum Medical Business Service for transportation of children to medical appointments
• Capital Campaign is completed, raising over $537,000
• CHIP moves into new building on 1201 3rd Street SW on May 13, 200

• CHIP’s 4th Annual Breakfast with Santa special event adds on a second seating and grows in attendance from 89 in 2000 to 521 in 2003
• Appalachian Regional Commission pledges $38,598 to serve 81 rural children from Botetourt and Craig counties
• Nurse Liason Program piloted at Lewis-Gale Clinic to collaborate on plans of care for the most at-risk and non-compliant families

• Julia Gatti, CHIP Outreach Worker, receives the 2004 Super Hero Award from the Virginia Health Care Foundation for enrolling over 1,000 children in the state-sponsored Family Access to Medical Insurance Security (FAMIS) programs
• Spanish-speaking Outreach Worker is funded through CHIP of Virginia to serve 22 Hispanic families
• CHIP becomes licensed through the Department of Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services (DMHMRSAS) to provide targeted case management to children 0-7 at risk for serious social-emotional disturbance

• Dr. Doug Pierce receives the Medical Society Foundation’s Salute to Service Award for service to the poor and uninsured through his work with CHIP
• CHIP service delivery model changed to 1 Nurse/3 Family Case Managers per team, with new parenting and development curriculum. Caseload sizes are reduced and home visit requirements increased.
• CHIP is one of six finalists for the Monroe E. Trout Premier Cares Award, a national competition that recognizes measurable, innovative solutions for providing health care to the nation’s medically under-served.

• CHIP’s Pregnant Moms Program begins on January 2006. CHIP begins enrolling expectant moms to receive home visits with CHIP Community Health Nurses or Family Case Managers. Other offerings include transportation for prenatal appointments, childbirth education classes, breastfeeding support, nutrition education and referrals to community resources.
• CHIP partners with Carilion to create a new program called First Steps for moms who deliver at Carilion Medical Center. Parent Educators offer a free, family-centered educational home visit to support mothers during their first month home with a new baby.
• CHIP celebrates the 10th Anniversary of Tug for Tots on Friday, May 12th. Ten Years of Tugging for Children’s Health!

• Asthma case management for CHIP enrolled children begins with CHIP teams collaborating with families, healthcare providers and community service agencies to case manage children 0-7 years diagnosed with respiratory disease or asthma.
• Begin With A Grin Dental Varnish Program starts and provides oral assessment, dental hygiene education and application of preventive fluoride varnish to children 6-36 months of age.
• Virginia Health Care Foundation awards CHIP the Wachovia Award for Outstanding VHCF Alumni

• CHIP celebrates its 20th Anniversary with a dinner at the Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center. Dr. Doug Pierce, CHIP’s Founder, is presented with The Bridge Builder Award for a Children’s Advocate.
• CHIP launches a $5 Million Endowment Campaign to ensure CHIP’s financial stability for years to come
• CHIP partners with MCV/VCU School of Dentistry to study the effects of providing in-home fluoride varnish on dental caries rates. Two dental fairs are held with VCU dentists providing exams. CHIP is awarded a HRSA Healthy Tomorrows grant for the dental varnish program.

• A Priority on Patients (P.O.P.) clinic is held for CHIP parents, Project Access and Bradley Free
  Clinic clients. Over 65 CHIP parents receive free dental care through over 12 dental practices around the valley.
• A Board Retreat is held to review requirements to become evidence based home visiting program. Deanna Gomby, Ph.D. is hired to visit CHIP and make recommendations on next steps to becoming evidence-based.
• Tug for Tots is moved to Spartan Field in Salem. A record 27 tams participate.
• A research study is approved in partnership with Roanoke City Schools to look at school readiness and school performance up to 3rd grade for children enrolled in CHIP and children enrolled in both CHIP and Head Start prior to kindergarten, as compared to other children in Title 1 Schools