EquiCareConnect

What is EquiCareConnect?

EquiCareConnects is a nonprofit based out of Trenton, NJ, and stands for one mission: to ensure that healthcare will be a right, not a privilege, for communities, across the US and internationally, that are unserved and underrepresented in healthcare services and healthcare knowledge and research. Across the US, the team at EquiCareConnect has identified a noticeable and growing disparity in access to healthcare and information about health especially among communities of color, low-income households, and rural communities. The lack of knowledge and resources available to these communities has led to a higher ratio of health disorders and improper, late, or no treatment at all. EquiCareConnect is aimed at tackling this inequality at its root and its thick branches through a number of programs and resources.

At its root, education, and access to knowledge regarding healthcare and health inequalities is a crucial point that EquiCareConnect has realized can be a turning point in the large disparity in healthcare. Organizing workshops for younger children in local community centers in the city of Trenton has brought together youth of the next generation, high school volunteers, as well as participants who are leaders in the health industry such as doctors and clinic workers. EquiCareConnect has also employed the support of high school interns to conduct independent research on and between the lines of health inequalities as well as research into everyday news regarding healthcare around the world. Their efforts are displayed through their writings about the modern substantial issues and then present in the nonprofit’s blog. The team is also hard at work using social media to reach people in the community and across the US and receive feedback on the most critical resources a community needs through interactive posts and polls and presents the information learned back to the objective the nonprofit works towards, but also webinars intended to adaptively educate followers on issues they are currently concerned with. 

On top of its commitment to education and student commitment, EquiCareConnect reaches back into the community it serves and aims to develop resources that any person can effectively utilize. Its flagship app, CareBridge, is currently being developed to provide a user interface that assists with access to health documents, doctor profiles, and most importantly, free access to annual checkups at online and local clinics. The apps help provide a bridge to under-provided communities in getting health needs, health records, and other health data that would be otherwise hard to access and even completely unbeknownst to them.

Meet the Founders: Amarthya and Sahana

As a co-founder of the organization, Amarthya has rooted herself in dedicating her passion to immediate and local as well as underserved and international communities. Through personal experiences, Amarthya and her family have experienced the lack of healthcare access. Fortunately, Amarthya’s mother who had been combating a malignant type of cystic fibrosis was able to have life-saving surgery, but not until after two years of waiting, during which her condition constantly put her life at risk. On the other hand, friends of Amarthya’s family had not been so lucky, especially in India, where her family was from, where the lack of access to healthcare and the quality of healthcare led to the loss of a friend’s life. Her experiences as a younger child reflected common stereotypes of healthcare in America as well, as being daunting and unaccepting especially if did not have the resources to afford such care. It was these experiences and a stereotype that Amarthya wanted to break using EquiCareConnect; by combining elements of education, research, student participation, customer and patient accessibility, and top healthcare all into one platform and organization.

For Sahanashree, the obvious yet ignored facts surrounding the healthcare disparity she noticed, couldn’t be ignored. Even as a high sophomore in 2024, Sahana’s many trips across the world gave her a perspective that is constantly brushed over. While in New York City, while her younger self imagined the metropolis as bustling or vibrant or grandiose like the skyscraping towers of Manhattan, the neighborhoods she saw did not all reflect the same eminence. More so, her family in India and their village and local ones around them also lacked the vision of a truly equal world. Sahanashree combines her passion for tech and computer science with the world of healthcare and aspires to become a biomedical engineer and impact communities through innovation. As of now, she has taken a leading role in EquiCareConnect’s app and website development team. Impressively, as only a rising sophomore and no real classroom engagement in coding or programming, Sahanashree has found a true passion and engages the field through her own free time and explorates new information and skills through free resources on the internet and youtube. She has built the organization’s website and consistently programs and develops the CareBridge app. Her passion for bridging the healthcare gap and dedication to servicing communities through her love for computer science and software development at such an early point in her career show the possibilities and results of taking ambition by the hand.

Student Opportunities

Amarthya and Sahanashree envision a strongly supported pathway for the expansion of their nonprofit. Firstly, with the growth of the clinical and doctoral network they will build, the organization’s services will go beyond free access to annual checkups and also services such as cancer screening, starvation prevention funds, and more. Even more so, their team envisions high school students taking more pivotal positions in the organization’s efforts to expand by offering students opportunities to conduct research and volunteer or intern at local doctors’ offices, clinics, and practices. Both Amarthya and Sahanashree encourage those who are interested and committed to healthcare, research, and serving the underserved to reach out and inquire more about the opportunities their organization has to offer!