Ross Gallabrese A SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY — Helping to plan this year’s fundraising gala to support the Ohio Valley Health Center are chairs, front, the family of Gina and Mark Judy, center, and their daughters, Stephanie Presutti, left, and Kimberly Sherretts; and, back, Alisa DelGuzzo and Susan Tarr, executive committee members; Ann Quillen, the center’s executive director; and Chris Orris, a member of the executive committee. This year’s event, set for April 26, will recognize the clinic’s 20 years of helping the area’s uninsured and underinsured residents.

STEUBENVILLE — The typical patient at the Ohio Valley Health Center, Executive Director Ann Quillen explains, is a woman in her 50s who finds that she is underinsured or has no health insurance at all.

“Knowing that we can provide the services she needs allows people like her to not have to choose between taking their medication and paying their rent. Those are the people we want to take care of,” Quillen said.

The center, located at 423 South St., has been making available quality health care to the area’s uninsured and underinsured residents for 20 years. Last year, it provided $1,126,804 in patient care, filled 4,470 prescriptions with a value of $531,953 and had an additional community impact of $97,200. That’s a total value of $1,755,957 in free care.

Helping to make that happen are the efforts of volunteer providers, grants and the center’s biggest fundraiser of the year — its annual gala. This year’s event is scheduled for April 26 at the St. Florian Event Center in Wintersville. The theme, Quillen explained, is special — “A Roaring 20 Years of Hope, Health and Healing.”

The committee that’s organizing this year’s event wants to create an old-time atmosphere, with attendees encouraged to dress in 1920s attire. There will be newsboys in knickers and caps handing out programs and cigarette girls — distributing the candy variety. It’s a chance to step back to a time of speakeasies and the Jazz Age — while helping the center continue its work.

“I can’t emphasize enough how important it is for this event to be a success,” Quillen said. “It does raise about one-third of our operational budget. It’s a wonderful fundraiser. We have been very well supported, and we’re very grateful to the community.”

Serving as chairs for the event are members of the Judy family — Gina and Mark of Richmond, and their daughters, Kimberly Sherretts and Stephanie Presutti. They have been long-time supporters of the work the center does.

“The patients here, many of them are working members of society,” Mark Judy explained. “They are people who are still doing their best to get along in life. They haven’t given up — they haven’t just quit. They’re actually trying, and, in some cases, they end up in a bad place and making decisions that aren’t envious — between medical care, rent and food — just because they don’t have any insurance. Their employer might not provide, or they have a high deductible or face high prescription costs.”

He added that they became involved with the organization around 15 years ago — when it was known by its original name, the Fourth Street Health Center. Its location has changed more than once — moving from Fourth Street to Trinity Medical Center East before settling in at the location in the city’s South End.

Mark Judy is the operating manager of Pittsburgh-based Richmond Engineering Works, while Gina Judy is a retired art teacher from the Indian Creek Local School District. The couple has been married for 36 years, and they have been long-time donors. Mark currently serves as vice president of the center’s board of directors.

Gina Judy has helped on the artistic side — from donating prints for the popular mystery boxes which are sold during the event to designing the save-the-date and invitation cards, which carry through with the theme and colors of emerald, green and black. It’s the second time her artwork has been used as a backdrop to the gala, Quillen said.

“I knew Ann, but I didn’t know what she did on a day-to-day basis,” said Sherretts, who is a project manager at Richmond Engineering. “Stepping in and seeing the health center and everything it has to offer is really an eye-opening experience. We’re just down here trying to get the word out and get people aware of it and the services they offer.”

In addition to primary care, the center offers a wide variety of services, from on-site lab testing to echocardiograms. as well as an on-site pharmacy.

Mark Judy said Presutti, who is a stylist at Halo Salon, always has been willing to help.

“Stephanie was attending the gala one year and some of the people who were supposed to help with registration weren’t there,” he said. “So, Stephanie stepped in and stepped up to help with the registration table.

The Judys are the first family to chair the event, Quillen explained, adding the chairpersons always have been important.

“It was a no-brainer for the Judy family to be asked,” she said. “Mark and Gina have been faithful to us as donors. Mark has served on the board. We’re glad they stepped up.

“Every year, our gala chairpersons have come through beautifully,” she added. “They bring their friends and their family. They bring new sponsorships and work hard to get the word out about the health center. They have a unique group of people they are in touch with, and they reach people we are not always able to reach, so it widens our donor base.”

Being able to continue the work of the center is important. According to statistics supplied by Quillen, 17 percent of Jefferson County residents experience poverty and 7.2 percent of local adults lack health insurance coverage. Another 18 percent report food insecurity.

“Without the center, there would be people who would be facing some difficult choices,” Mark Judy said. “For every story that you see come out in public, there are a dozen more that you never hear about the life-changing help people get here, and, quite literally, the life-saving care that people have received here. Without our volunteer staff, who knows what would happen to these people.”

This gala also will be last for Quillen as executive director. She announced in late February that she would be retiring from the post — for the second time. She had led the center from 2008 to 2015 before returning in 2020.

Working with Quillen and the Judys is the gala committee, a group of around 30 volunteers whose efforts bring the event together. Mark Judy has a simple term to describe them — “They are doers,” he said.

Among the committee’s jobs is gathering items for, putting together and then selling mystery boxes during the gala. All 500 of the boxes are sold every year, which generates $10,000 for the health center. The live auction, Quillen added, brings in between $12,000 and $16,000.

Sponsorships also play a critical role in the fundraiser, Quillen said. Details about available sponsorships, and individual tickets, which cost $65 a person, can be found on the health center’s website, ovhealthcenter.org.

Quillen added there will be a reunion of the people who have served during the past 20 years on the board, as medical providers and others. That event is scheduled for April 25.