Project HEALTH was founded in the Boston Medical Center Pediatrics Department in 1996 and works to break the link between poverty and poor health. The model used is so simple and effective: in Project HEALTH clinics physicians can "prescribe" food or housing for their patients and their families. Undergraduate volunteers then connect those families to local resources to meet these needs, enabling them to achieve the stability and opportunity that lead to better health for their children.
The overall vision is to mobilize the nation's first corps of student volunteers to connect low-income patients with the resources they need to be healthy. In doing so project HEALTH is creating the next generation of leaders committed to tackling this country's greatest health challenges!
In 1996, Rebecca Onie founded Project HEALTH with Dr. Barry Zuckerman, Chair of Pediatrics at Boston Medical Center. As Executive Director of Project HEALTH, Rebecca oversaw the organization's growth to Providence and New York City.
After attending Harvard Law School, Rebecca clerked for the Honorable Diane P. Wood of the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. During this time, Rebecca served as founding Co-Chair of Project HEALTH's Board of Directors.
Rebecca returned to Project HEALTH as CEO in February 2006. Rebecca has been honored to receive a MacArthur Fellowship, was a recipient of the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award, is a U.S. Ashoka Fellow, and received the Jane Rainie Opel '50 Young Alumna Award in 2008 for outstanding contribution to the advancement of women.
Project HEALTH was featured in TIME Magazine's "Power of One" feature on October 23, 2009! The column focused on a single person and his or her world-changing program, project, concept, or product.
