A Brief History of Jefferson Area CHiP

CHiP’s Charlottesville Albemarle office opened in 1991 as a partnership between the Thomas Jefferson Health District and the Monticello Area Community Action Agency.  First known as the Child Health Partnership, our mission was to provide home visiting services to Medicaid-eligible pregnant women and families with young children, utilizing the skills of both nurses and family support workers to bring a holistic approach to family wellness that was otherwise unavailable to these families.

We soon recognized the need to expand, and services to Fluvanna and Louisa counties were added.  In 2002 we changed our name to Jefferson Area CHiP (Children’s Health Improvement Program) to better describe our work and our expanded region of service.

In response to changing dynamics in the community and to the increasing need for our services, we began a facilitated process in 2006 with community leaders and supporters to plan for our future. This process resulted in our reorganization as an independent non-profit in 2008.

Twenty years ago, CHiP started with a staff of two, and in our first year we served 25 families.  Now we have a staff of 24 that serves over 300 families in Charlottesville, Albemarle, Fluvanna and Louisa annually.  Over the years, we have worked with over 2,000 families. We look forward to many more years of helping our community encourage healthy kids and healthy homes.