Partner support allows Durham Tech Community Health Lab to serve more patients

Durham Tech’s Community Health Lab continues to grow in its mission to bring free health care services where care is needed most, thanks to the support of recent grants and generous individual donors.

Transportation can be a significant barrier to accessing health care for many low-income residents in Durham and Orange counties. The Community Health Lab, a van upfitted to provide free basic health care services in the community, was created as a solution to meet that need.

The Community Health Lab has served more than 14,000 people to date providing free prescription eyewear, dental pre-screenings and education. Children can also be checked for cholesterol, glucose and basic vital signs. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (Blue Cross NC) awarded Durham Tech Foundation a $1 million grant to purchase and upfit the van and launch the Community Health Lab's programming in 2020. It recently made an additional $150,000 grant to continue to grow the van’s service across Durham and Orange counties and strategic locations across North Carolina as NC’s only community college-based mobile health unit. 

Additional grants supporting the CHL work in the community include: 

• Fox Family Foundation awarded Durham Tech a four-year $150,000 grant for general operating support.
• The City of Durham awarded Durham Tech a three-year $239,688 opioid settlement grant to support Project MAPS (Mobile Addiction Treatment & Primary Care Services). Project MAPS is a collaboration among Durham Tech, the NC Harm Reduction Coalition and physicians that provides opioid use disorder treatment, wound care and care coordination services across four outreach sites in Durham through the mobile health lab.
• The Duke Clinical and Translational Research Institute awarded Durham Tech Foundation a $7,000 grant to purchase a mobile vision screener for Project SIGHT (Students Imparting Glasses for Healthy Tomorrows). Project SIGHT provides free vision screenings, comprehensive eye exams, and prescription eyeglasses in schools and community-based organizations in collaboration with multiple partners. Since 2020, Project SIGHT has done 8,239 vision screenings, 3,830 comprehensive eye exams and has provided 4,317 prescription eyeglasses.

The Community Health Lab exemplifies Durham Tech’s commitment to meeting critical community needs through accessible, compassionate care. With continued investment from philanthropic partners and local agencies, the CHL is expanding its reach and deepening its impact across Durham and Orange counties. These partnerships sustain vital health services but also create opportunities for innovative, community-based care models that address health disparities at their root. Together we are building healthier futures – one visit, one screening, and one patient at a time.