ECCF tours the Center with donors for the September Nonprofit Connect Series site visit
By Michelle Xiarhos Curran
ECCF SENIOR WRITER
In the parking lot across from the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center (GLFHC), Bienvenido “Ben” Gonzalez stands outside one of the Center’s two Mobile Health Clinics, used to make more than 5,000 visits annually to emergency shelters, drop-in centers, soup kitchens and other sites across the Merrimack Valley where people experiencing homelessness gather.
Over the hum of the generator, Gonzalez – who once worked in the GLFHC facilities department and is now a community health worker, Certified Medical Assistant and the driver of the Mobile Health Clinic – talks about the two-room van and the work that happens there.
Maintained partially through philanthropic dollars, the van is equipped to offer the same care that patients receive at the brick-and-mortar location. There are separate triage and exam rooms. And all the medical equipment you’d find at a doctor’s office.
But the Mobile Clinic team most frequently treats addiction-related complications (the rise in fentanyl use means there are more wounds to tend to), mental health concerns, and medical testing: for Hepatitis C, HIV and other STDs.
The work is not easy. And Gonzalez tells the group of ECCF staff and donors – who have gathered to learn more about the work of GLFHC as part of the foundation’s Nonprofit Connect Series – that he often shows up at a site an hour early just to talk with people.
“Usually when you work with the homeless population, the most important thing is trust,” said Gonzalez, who is also the go-to person when the medical team needs to find a Mobile Health patient who requires follow-up care. Because of Gonzalez’s dedication to his work, he was a 2026 recipient of the Health Center Employee Award from the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers.
A focus on whole-person, comprehensive care
The Healthcare for the Homeless program is just one facet of GLFHC’s incredibly comprehensive care. But that trust Gonzalez spoke about is a huge component of all the work that happens at the Center, where the team of more than 140 physicians cares for 70,000 patients across the Merrimack Valley – 80 percent of whom are low-income.
It’s a bustling, busy place where they offer primary, pediatric, geriatric and walk-in care, behavioral health services, obstetrics, nutrition counseling, pharmacy services and a list of confidential community health support services.
And at the center of the trust that is crucial to GLFHC’s success is the understanding that there are many social determinants of health that impact their patients’ well-being.
“We practice ‘whole-person care,’” said GLFHC President and CEO Zandra Kelley, MD, who, in addition to her leadership responsibilities, continues to see patients. “It’s not just about giving out a prescription and saying, ‘bye.’”
Along with complete medical care, GLFHC also offers assistance with housing, social security and MassHIRE applications. They help with health insurance enrollment, transportation and utility assistance. And they give referrals to other community resources like financial coaching, elder services and immigration support. And this year, GLFHC is celebrating a 10-year partnership with the Greater Boston Food Bank, which helps them deliver 143,000 pounds of fresh produce annually to patients and neighbors at their Mobile Food Market.
“We’re really kind of a social services organization that just happens to deliver the best health care,” said Steven Crowell, the Center’s director of development and marketing, who has worked at GLFHC, including on the clinical side, for more than 10 years.
The GLFHC team is keenly aware of community need and as part of their response, also adds new technologies and services based on those needs. They are one of the only places in the Merrimack Valley to offer FibroScan Technology to help diagnose metabolic liver disease, which is on the rise locally. And they’ve recently added extracorporeal shock wave therapy for orthopedic injuries to their sports medicine program as a less invasive alternative to surgery, which can leave many of their low-income patients out of work for long periods of time with no way to care for their families.
A Federally Qualified Health Center
GLFHC is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), which means it’s a community-based clinic (51% of the Board of Directors is made up of patients) that receives federal funding to provide care in underserved areas, regardless of a patient’s insurance status or ability to pay.
“But philanthropy is really important,” said Laura Burns, GLFHC’s manager of advancement operations and foundation relations.
Philanthropic dollars help to adequately fund essential elements of GLFHC’s work, like expanded access to care, innovative programs, and technology and infrastructure enhancements such as new ultrasound machines, retinal scanners and renovated space for the Center’s residency program.
The Lawrence Family Medicine Residency, the first physician residency program operated by a community health center, fields 600 applicants for 12 spots each year. It’s a four-year program designed to train doctors to give care in a complex environment. It includes a built-in, one-year fellowship and a Spanish immersion program.
“Our residency program is key to our ability to move forward,” said Crowell. “Our residents are always pushing us to do more, and it separates the care you get here from anywhere else north of Boston.”
It was residents that prepared GLFHC for COVID when, in 2019 – a year before the pandemic – they introduced a new platform that would allow clinicians to talk to the pharmacy in real time.
“You may have heard of it; it’s called Zoom,” joked Jennifer Somers, MD, program director of the Lawrence Family Medicine Residency. “During COVID, we were better prepared because it was already in place, and we were able to immediately transition and keep a continuity of care. We give our residents credit for that.”
“They hold our feet to the fire,” added Crowell.
Half of the doctors on staff – including Kelley, the president and CEO – started their careers at GLFHC in the residency program. “This place is very near and dear to me,” she said.
And when asked what the best part of her job is, she doesn’t hesitate.
“It’s the people: the patients, my colleagues, all the employees,” Kelley said. “Everyone who works here is here to serve this community. Everyone is here for the mission.”
