For over 35 years Children’s Health Fund (CHF) has been breaking down barriers that prevent access to quality, comprehensive healthcare for children and families living in under-resourced communities across the United States.Pediatrician and nationally recognized child advocate Irwin Redlener, singer-songwriter Paul Simon, and program designer Karen Redlener founded CHF in 1987 after touring the Martinique Hotel, a homeless shelter for families in New York City, and witnessing the dire conditions under which children were living.

Expanding Access to Care

Through its uniquely designed and fully equipped 36-foot long mobile medical clinic that included a registration area, vital signs station, and two examination rooms, CHF pioneered the use of mobile clinics to bring healthcare directly to the children and families with the least access. Today, we support a coalition of 25 national network programs in 15 states; Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico that deliver care through our fleet of 50 mobile medical clinics, fixed-site clinics, schools, Head Start centers, community agencies, and homeless and domestic violence shelters. Through the years we have helped millions of children with more than 100,000 mostly minority (four in five are Black or brown), uninsured or underinsured children receiving services annually.

Expanded Focus

Through the years, we have routinely responded to the needs of the communities we serve. We have deployed mobile medical clinics and helped organize medical professionals to respond to disasters and public health crises across the United States. Understanding that the well-being of a child goes beyond a medical clinic, our focus also includes a robust history of supporting and advocating for public health programs that provide a critical safety net for medically underserved children and address systemic issues within America’s health infrastructure. Working at the nexus of health and education, our Healthy and ready to Learn initiative helps identify and address health barriers to learning and provides families and educators the resources children need to thrive and succeed.