About Us
Our mission
Health Resource Partners believes in empowering and strengthening local health-focused organizations within their own communities. We do this by finding trusted and established partners that share our mission. We offer mentorship, support, growth opportunities and funding while our local partners connect underserved communities with the health resources they need the most. Above all, we believe in sustainability by listening to the needs of the individual community, partnering with local stakeholders and NGOs, and relying only on locally-sourced resources.
Our Story
Health Resource Partners (HRP) founder, Britany Ferrell, decided to join the United States Peace Corps during her last year of college at the University of Alabama. Shortly after her graduation in June 2010, she learned that she was going to be posted in Ghana, West Africa. Three months later, Britany arrived in the village of Eremon to be a secondary science teacher for the next two years.
In September 2010 Britany got very ill and soon found out that she was suffering from Malaria. Malaria is an infectious disease transmitted to humans by the bite of a mosquito carrying the Plasmodium parasite. Malaria causes extreme fever, chills, body aches, and—in severe cases—can even lead to death, especially in the very young, the elderly, and individuals who have not previously been exposed.
Even though Britany had never felt so sick in her life and was very scared for her well-being, there was nowhere for her to go to receive adequate treatment. The closest hospital was quite far away and not readily accessible without motor vehicle transport (which PCVs do not have). In addition, it did not have enough beds for patients, so you would often see them in the hallways sleeping on mattresses they had brought from home without any privacy or access to hygiene facilities. Given all these variables, Britany decided to stay home, take the malaria medication provided by the Peace Corps and tough it out. Thankfully she survived, however she went on to have malaria two additional times.
With a lifelong interest in healthcare, this personal experience with malaria along with learning about other health disparities in the Lawra district galvanized Britany to take action within her community. One of her biggest and proudest achievements was the formation of the HIV/AIDS Peer Education Group at Eremon SHS. Thanks to the successful funding of two PEPFAR grants, Britany was able to train 17 of her students to advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention, awareness, and anti-stigmatization within the community.
They also partnered with the local health department to offer testing and counseling and to provide support workshops to people living with HIV/AIDS and their family members. This program was hugely successful, and many of these students have now gone on to become health care professionals.
Britany completed her Peace Corps service in 2012. Motivated by the desire to improve health outcomes at a population level, she went on to receive her Master’s Degree in Public Health (MPH) at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Britany knew before she left Ghana that she wanted to start a nonprofit in the field of public health and international development, but she knew she needed additional experience first. After completing her MPH and working for several different nonprofits across four different countries, Britany founded Health Resource Partners in 2018.
