In honor of the opening of the incredible Obama Presidential Library in Jackson Park, we wanted to throw back to a moment that we hold near and dear to our hearts.
When President Obama was Senator Obama of Illinois, he visited Mobile Care Chicago after hearing about our work because he had a daughter with asthma. During that visit, he met with our founder, Dr. Thomas “Doc” Sheridan, along with Laurie Baker and our former Medical Director, Dr. Stephanie Whyte, to learn more about our Asthma Van and the impact it was having on children and families across Chicago.
As our co-founder, Phil Sheridan, recalls:
“When President Obama was a senator in Illinois, he came to the asthma van because he had a daughter with asthma and heard about us. My father, Doc Sheridan, met him along with Laurie Baker and our former Medical Director Dr. Stephanie Whyte. They told him all about what the Asthma Van was doing and at the end of it, Obama said: ‘I’m going to try to help you and get some money from the federal government.’ Within a few months, we had a $200,000 grant from the federal government to help Mobile Care. At the time, that was the biggest grant that we had ever received from the government. It was great to see Barack Obama the Democrat, side-by-side with Doc Sheridan the Republican, doing good work together for children in need. It’s a great memory.”
That $200,000 federal grant helped make our very first “Breathmobile” possible in 2000 and was, at the time, the largest government grant Mobile Care Chicago had ever received. It is thanks to leaders who believed in our mission—that regardless of your zip code, you deserve high-quality, accessible healthcare—that we are still able to put rubber to the road 26 years later.
As Chicago celebrates this new chapter, we’re grateful for the leaders, partners, and communities who have helped make our work possible, and proud to continue bringing care directly to the children and families who need it most.
