Graham Children's Health Services

Mitchell and Yancey counties in Western North Carolina are beautiful places to live and raise a family. First settled by Scotch-Irish, a strong mountain ethic of self-sufficiency continues. But, geographic isolation and limited economic development have led to significant challenges that impact our community's health.

Did you know…

• That the poverty rate for children under 18 in Mitchell and Yancey County far exceeds the statewide rate? (by 8% and 10%, respectively) This means that many children in our community go to bed hungry. 
• That the rates of heart disease, cancer and respiratory disease are higher for both Mitchell and Yancey Counties than for the State as a whole? The risk factors linked to these diseases (being overweight/obese, not meeting the national recommendations for physical activity, consuming less than the recommended number of servings of fruits/vegetables, and smoking) in our area exceed the rates for both the region and the state.

We want to change this, and we think you do too. It’s hard to believe that it has been almost 20 years since the founders of Graham Children’s Health Services came together to improve the health outcomes for the children in our community.  In that time we’ve made a lot of progress…but there’s still work to do.

We repeatedly hear how impressed people are that Graham Children’s Health Services can get so much done with such a small budget and staff.  It’s something we’re proud of!  It has driven us to run our programs extremely efficiently, and inspired us to combine resources with partner agencies in order to use our limited funds most effectively.  But the simple fact is this: our small budget and staff has limited our ability to have the impact we would wish. We want to do more!

We need your help to continue this work. Please make a gift today.

Each of our programs is a collaborative effort that involves, educates, and unites the community with the vision of vibrant communities of active, healthy children and families.