What if the only thing standing between you and a doctor… was 20 miles of road you couldn’t drive?
That’s the reality for many families in rural Northwest Pennsylvania—communities where distance, transportation, and poverty create invisible walls between people and the care they deserve.
At MHEDS, we believe healthcare shouldn’t be a luxury. That’s why we’re launching Meeting You Where You Are, a capital campaign to fund a mobile medical unit that will bring primary care, screenings, and health education directly to the communities that need it most.
This isn’t just a vehicle. It’s a promise.
The mobile unit will be staffed by MHEDS’ providers and equipped to deliver high-quality, culturally sensitive healthcare in neighborhoods where care is hardest to reach. From isolated farms and small towns to overlooked corners of our region, we will show up for those who’ve been overlooked for too long.
“Some families in our region aren’t just miles from the nearest doctor—they’re miles from being seen,” said Alivia Haibach, CEO of MHEDS. “This mobile unit will allow us to meet people where they are—bringing dignity, care, and life-saving healthcare to those who need it most.”
Our goal? Raise $350,000 to purchase and deploy this mobile unit—and we’re starting strong with a community fundraising push during Erie Gives Day 2025.
Why now?
Too many residents of Erie County go without care—not because they won’t seek it, but because they simply can’t reach it. That’s something Jeff Brooks, MHEDS’ Chief Development Officer, knows all too well.
“I live in rural Erie. I know what it’s like when the nearest doctor is a long drive away—and too many people simply don’t make that trip,” said Brooks. “This mobile unit will change that. It’s healthcare that meets them where they are.”
The unit will initially offer primary care services, with a phased plan to expand into other critical healthcare services.
What you can do
MHEDS is asking the community to join us in making this vision a reality. Every dollar raised during Erie Gives will go directly toward this mobile unit—and every mile it travels will bring care to someone who might otherwise go without.
“This mobile unit represents a bold new step in MHEDS’ mission,” said Dylanna Grasinger, Chair of MHEDS’ Board of Directors. “It’s a promise to bring life-saving care directly to main streets, front porches, farmhouses, and forgotten corners of our region.”
Join us this Erie Gives Day
Your generous gift is more than a donation—it’s a powerful act of community, a way to bring life-saving care to real people who might otherwise go without.
ABOUT MHEDS
Multi-Cultural Health Evaluation Delivery System’s (MHEDS) mission is to enable all who wish to achieve complete mental, physical, and social well-being by providing equitable, culturally sensitive, patient-centered health care, regardless of their ability to pay. MHEDS is Northwest PA’s one-stop healthcare service provider serving Erie’s multicultural community with holistic healthcare at two locations in Erie. As a Federally Qualified Health Center System Look-Alike, MHEDS meets rigorous compliance standards, ensuring its patients receive high-quality, equitable care. Nearly 86% of MHEDS patients speak a native language other than English, including Nepali, Arabic, Swahili, Ukrainian, Russian, or Spanish. MHEDS is a 2021 recipient of the Pennsylvania Office of Refugee Resettlement’s Excellence in Community Engagement Award for valuable contributions to serving the refugee population and operates two locations in Erie, PA.
