This has been an exceptional year for Arlington Free Clinic. Not only are we celebrating thirty years of serving our community, we have welcomed a new leader—our third leader in thirty years.
Our first leader was the visionary Nancy Sanger Pallesen, who led and nurtured AFC from its very first days when the Clinic operated from a small office at Thomas Jefferson Middle School and Nancy had to keep all the medical records in her basement. When Nancy retired in 2014 after nearly 21 years of leadership, she was succeeded by Nancy White. Under our second Nancy’s capable leadership, AFC broadened its services, adding dental care (among other new services), and we navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a profound impact on both our patients and our operations.
Now we welcome Lesley Daigle as our new CEO. Lesley had a first career as a lawyer and a second as a nurse at VHC, where she served in multiple capacities with significant leadership responsibilities. In her first year as AFC’s leader, Lesley has done an extraordinary job in sustaining AFC’s forward-motion, increasing AFC’s presence in the community, expanding our partnerships, upgrading key aspects of our operations, and, following in her predecessors’ footsteps, always putting the people we serve first.
As we move into our fourth decade of providing free, high-quality healthcare, there are certainly challenges ahead. The need in our community continues to exceed our capacity to provide. Costs continue to rise, expansion of services necessitates more space for operations, and increasing dental capacities is crucial. But, as should be apparent in this publication, we have much to celebrate. AFC remains strong and mission driven. We are grateful for the multitude of partners, volunteers, and contributors who make our work possible.