Arlington Free Clinic

08/06/2025

Huge thank you to CoStar for donating 500 backpacks for our patients' families! Their support will help AFC families start the school year with confidence and the supplies they need to succeed.

07/31/2025

Arlington Free Clinic would be nothing without its amazing volunteers! Each month we highlight a volunteer nominated by our staff to honor their hard work. For the month of July, AFC staff has nominated Karina Knizek, Volunteer Interpreter & Intake Volunteer.

Karina’s journey with AFC began in high school when she volunteered as a Spanish interpreter for our weekly exercise class for two years. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Karina, newly EMT-certified, returned home from college and jumped back in to provide clinical observation at our vaccine clinics, supporting our community when it needed it most. Last summer, she returned as a Women’s Health Intern through our Summer Internship Program. Karina took on a wide range of responsibilities, from interpreting medical appointments and developing multilingual communication materials to supporting patient outreach. Always one to seek out a challenge, she also contributed to CONTIGO, a research study through Georgetown’s Lombardi Cancer Center. This study is aimed at improving cancer education for Latina women and AFC has been a participant for several years! Now back for a brief summer visit before finishing her final semester of college, Karina didn’t hesitate to reach out and see if she could help with intake and interpreting during her stay.

Karina, we’re so grateful for your years of service and for always showing up for our patients. Thank you for your incredible dedication to AFC’s mission and our community!

07/30/2025

From July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025, Arlington Free Clinic served 1,639 unique patients in nearly 10,000 visits and filled over 27,000 prescriptions. We are deeply grateful to everyone — our staff, volunteers, donors, and community partners — who support our services and make this care possible!

Check out the rest of our FY25 impact report here.

07/18/2025

Emely, AFC's amazing Community Resource Navigator, and her intern Lisbel spent yesterday at the Barcroft Apartments Community Resource Fair, sharing information about Arlington Free Clinic with local residents. We love connecting with our neighbors and helping spread the word about the services AFC provides!

07/09/2025

AFC was mentioned in a recent ARLnow article regarding the potential impacts of Medicaid cuts on Arlington County residents.

“Whatever the cause, factors that lead to a loss of coverage impact all of us and are a clear reminder of AFC’s importance as the healthcare safety net option of last resort,” CEO Lesley Daigle told ARLnow. “The role we play in the Arlington community has never been more important.”

Check out the full article using the link below.

Federal cuts to Medicaid and food-assistance programs are expected to place greater strain on Arlington's most vulnerable residents and the social services that support them. Arlington County officials, health-care workers and nonprofits are still scrambling to determine the local impacts of the new...

07/08/2025

We're excited to announce AFC's latest additions to Leadership Center of Arlington Lead & Ignite Classes of 2026!

Beth Gorman, Director of Development, joins the Lead Class, designed to connect established leaders and inspire them to transform and support our community. Leigh-Ann Carter Sinclair, Clinical Program Manager, joins the Ignite Class, which allows leaders to hone skills and explore personal and professional leadership development as they create real impact with local nonprofits.

Congratulations to both! See the full class lists below.

🎉 Announcing the Lead and Ignite Classes of 2026!

We are thrilled to welcome a dynamic group of professionals to the Lead and Ignite leadership development programs.

We look forward to helping these leaders connect and learn from one another and providing opportunities for personal and professional community impact.

🔗 Read the announcement to learn who is in the Classes of 2026: https://www.leadercenter.org/press-releases/introducing-the-lead-and-ignite-classes-of-2026/

📅 The programs begin this fall and run through April 2026, culminating in our annual Leadership Summit in May.

Join us in celebrating these emerging and established leaders.

07/08/2025

World Skin Health Day (WSHD), celebrated annually on July 8th, raises awareness, improves access to care, and supports individuals living with skin conditions around the world.

At Arlington Free Clinic, we’re doing our part to reduce health disparities by ensuring our patients have access to care and other essential skin health resources, especially those who work long hours outdoors and face barriers to basic protection like sunscreen.

Help us provide care beyond the exam room by donating sunscreen from our Amazon Wish List! Your support ensures we can offer patients the protection they need all year long.

You can find our wish list using the link below:
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1V9U5D30S9GEB?ref_=wl_share

07/03/2025

We are honored to share that we have been chosen as 1 of 7 organizations to receive general operating support multi-year grants from the Northern Virginia Health Foundation — $380,000 total over the next three years! This is part of an historic $2.6 million total investment by NVHF across the seven organizations building stronger, healthier communities in Northern Virginia.

Learn more at the link below:

The Northern Virginia Health Foundation is committed to going “beyond grantmaking” to make a difference in the health and well-being of Northern Virginians by providing data, resources and tools to help the community be and stay healthy.

07/01/2025

Join us for a lively evening at The Celtic House Irish Pub & Restaurant with Malarkey, Arlington’s favorite all-female Irish jig band! The music starts at 6:30, and all donations from the night will support Arlington Free Clinic and the comprehensive healthcare we provide to our patients. We hope to see you there!

06/30/2025

Today is the last day of AFC's fiscal year, but there is still time to make a difference! A generous donor is matching all gifts up to $50,000, meaning your contribution will go twice as far to ensure our patients receive the affordable, high-quality healthcare they deserve.

If you have already given this year, we send you our heartfelt thanks - if not, you still have time to help us finish our 2025 fiscal year strong! Check out the link below to donate now:

https://arlingtonfreeclinic.org/june-matching-gift-opportunity/

06/27/2025

AFC would be nothing without its amazing volunteers! Our staff who work alongside them have a unique perspective on how their service impacts the Clinic and our patients. Each month we highlight a volunteer nominated by one of our staff to honor their hard work. For the month of June, Andera Bedregal, Nurse Manager, has nominated Gary Gardner, Volunteer Spanish Interpreter.

Gary is part of our Thursday evening volunteer crew and is always ready to step in and help where needed. Andrea nominated him for his calming presence and kind heart that makes every patient feel heard and at ease during their appointments. Additionally, Gary’s dedication and willingness to grow his interpreting skills stands out. He recognized areas where he could improve and proactively reached out to staff for additional training and feedback from fellow volunteers. That session was a success and strengthened both his skills and confidence.

We are so grateful for Gary and his dedication to providing the best possible care to our patients every week!

06/26/2025

Thank you to the Arlington Women’s Civic Alliance for raising $25,000 in support of our Women’s Health program and breast cancer initiatives at AFC! We are grateful to AWCA President Angie Wilcox and Treasurer Kathleen McKenna (pictured here), and to all the incredible women behind this generous gift supporting such vital care for our patients.