FUNDERS & PARTNERS
We’re not asking you to fund a crisis. We’re asking you to fund a plan.
Friends In Need Health Center has delivered medical and dental care to uninsured and underinsured neighbors in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia since 1995. We have never turned a patient away for inability to pay. This page explains how that is funded, where it is fragile, and what a partnership with us actually buys.
A working adult in our eleven-county service area who has no insurance has three realistic options: skip care, pay retail, or go to an emergency room. The first two produce untreated chronic disease. The third produces the most expensive care in the system delivered at the worst possible moment. Friends In Need exists to provide a fourth option — a real doctor and a real dentist, in the same building, at a flat fee anyone can plan around, four days a week. It costs roughly [$1.8 million] a year to run. Most of that is restricted funding tied to specific programs. The flexible margin that absorbs a broken compressor, an ended grant, or a patient who cannot pay anything at all is thin, and building it is the organization’s stated priority.
• OUR IMPACT •
Thirty Years, Counted
7,800
medical and dental appointments last year
995
telehealth visits, for patients who could not make the drive
11
counties served
3,599
dental patients in 2025
$93,000
in name-brand medication placed in patients’ hands in the first half of 2026 alone
0
patients turned away for inability to pay, since 1995
Where the Money Comes From — and Why the Shape Matters
Friends In Need is funded by a mix of restricted grants, government program reimbursement, patient fees, and community giving. Roughly [XX%] of revenue arrives restricted — committed in advance to a specific program, a specific population, or a specific line item. That funding is essential and we are grateful for it.
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But restricted money cannot replace a failed air compressor. It cannot cover the gap when a grant cycle ends. It cannot absorb the patient who walks in owing nothing and needing everything.
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The [XX%] that arrives unrestricted — from individuals, businesses, and congregations — is the only money that can. It is the smallest share of our budget and it does the most structural work in it.
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If you are deciding how to give: unrestricted general operating support is the most useful gift you can make to this organization.
See our financials and annual report
Building an Eighteen-Month Floor
Friends In Need currently operates with a thin cash cushion. That is common for charitable clinics and it is a real vulnerability: an organization without reserves makes decisions on a two-week horizon, and two-week horizons produce bad decisions about staffing, equipment, and program commitments.
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The board has adopted a staged plan to build to ninety days of operating cash over eighteen months, in four milestones.
Stage 1 — 30 days of operating cash · [$XXX,XXX]
The first floor. Enough to absorb a delayed reimbursement without a difficult conversation.
Stage 3 — 60 days · [$XXX,XXX]
Enough to bridge the end of a major grant while a replacement is secured.
Stage 2 — 45 days · [$XXX,XXX]
Enough to replace critical clinical equipment without waiting on a grant cycle.
Stage 4 — 90 days · [$XXX,XXX]
The target. The point at which Friends In Need plans in years instead of quarters.
We are asking a small number of partners to fund this floor. Not to cover a shortfall — to make shortfalls survivable.
What a Gift Buys
[$XXX] — one patient’s complete medical visit, including lab work
[$XXX] — one dental restoration that ends chronic pain
[$XXX] — a full set of dentures, printed and milled in our building
$7,500 — our annual Dispensary of Hope subscription, which placed roughly $93,000 in name-brand medication in patients’ hands in the first half of 2026 alone
[$X,XXX] — one clinic day: every patient seen, every provider paid, every door open
[$XX,XXX] — one dental operatory running for a year
Partnership Levels
[$1,000+] — Friend
Listed in the annual report. Invitation to the clinic for a tour.
[$5,000+] — Partner
The above, plus recognition at Bluegrass & Barbecue and a mid-year impact briefing.
[$10,000+] — Sustaining Partner
The above, plus a direct line to the Executive Director and quarterly financial and program updates.
[$25,000+] — Cornerstone Partner
The above, plus named recognition on site and the option to direct support to a specific program — dental, medication assistance, telehealth, or the reserve fund.
[$50,000+] — Founding Circle
Naming opportunities for a clinical space, and a standing invitation to meet with the board.
For Businesses and Foundations
Friends In Need works with regional employers, foundations, and congregations in several ways beyond a check.
General operating support
The first floor. Enough to absorb a delayed reimbursement without a difficult conversation.
Employee giving and matching
We are registered with [PLATFORM] and can be set up as a payroll deduction option.
Program sponsorship
Dental, medication assistance, telehealth, women’s health screening, or the point-of-care lab — each can be sponsored in whole or in part, with reporting on the outcomes your support produced.
Event sponsorship
Bluegrass & Barbecue, our annual fall fundraiser, offers sponsorship at several levels.
Capital and equipment.
Clinical equipment has a service life and ours is aging. Current needs are listed below.
In-kind professional services
Legal, accounting, IT, marketing, and facilities work donated by regional firms directly reduces our operating cost.
What We Need Right Now
If you are interested in funding a specific item, call the clinic and ask for Trey Darnell. He will tell you exactly what it does and exactly what it costs.
Bluegrass & Barbecue
Thursday, October 22, 2026 · Kingsport Farmers Market · [$75] per ticket
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Our annual fall fundraiser. Live music from Apologies in Advance, barbecue, and a silent auction, with proceeds supporting patient care at Friends In Need. Sponsorship packages are available for businesses that want visibility alongside their support.
Our Financials, Openly
Friends In Need Health Center is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. EIN 62-1541637.
2025 Annual Report
IRS Form 990 — most recent filing
Audited financial statements — [YEAR]
Board of Directors
Board President: Isaac Allman, Esq.
Questions about our finances go to Trey Darnell, Executive Director, at tdarnell@finhc.org or (423) 246-0010. He answers them himself.
Ways To Give
Appreciated stock.
Giving securities directly avoids capital gains and deducts at full market value. Our brokerage information is available on request.
Donor-advised funds.
Recommend a grant to Friends In Need Health Center, EIN 62-1541637.
IRA qualified charitable distributions.
If you are 70½ or older, a distribution made directly from your IRA can satisfy your required minimum distribution without counting as taxable income.
Employer matching.
Many regional employers match employee gifts. It is worth asking — it is the simplest way to double a gift.
Equipment and in-kind.
Clinical equipment, supplies, and professional services. See the needs list above.
Legacy and estate giving.
A bequest, a beneficiary designation, or a charitable remainder trust. We are glad to talk with you and your advisor.
Friends In Need Health Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. We are not tax or legal advisors — please consult your own.
Come see it for yourself.
The best way to understand this clinic is to stand in it on a Tuesday morning. We will show you the operatories, the lab, the medication room, and the waiting area, and we will answer every question you have. No presentation, no ask on the day.
Trey Darnell
Executive Director · tdarnell@finhc.org · (423) 246-0010
1916 Brookside Drive, Kingsport, TN 37660