Grace Medical Home and Shepherd’s Hope Health Clinics

Grace Medical Home and Shepherd’s Hope are serving the same community—Central Florida’s Uninsured Patients. The manner in which they serve this community is different and yet symbiotic.

Shepherd’s Hope is more of an emergent solution: they operate five clinics in the metro area, which are open 3-4 evenings a week. There are no appointments. Patients are encouraged to arrive an hour early to get in line so that they can be seen by the all volunteer staff of caregivers.

Grace Medical Home, on the other hand, is a more comprehensive healthcare solution wherein patients are cared for using the “Medical Home” model of being a one-stop healthcare solution for patients without insurance.

Investing in Shepherd’s Hope

In 2003, just one year after our founding, The Diebel Legacy Fund made our first investment in Shepherd’s Hope: $50,000 to establish the Colonial Drive clinic, which was renamed the Dr. Diebel Jr. Memorial Health Center.

For the Diebel Family, Shepherd’s Hope was the closest example we could find of an organization that Don Diebel Jr. would have volunteered for. Both philanthropically and personally, Shepherd’s Hope became a part of the Diebel Family. In fact, Dr. Diebel Sr., Christine Diebel Hempsted, and Pete Diebel were all volunteers for Shepherd’s Hope for many years.

In 2005, The Diebel Legacy Fund made a second $50,000 investment to pilot an innovative new pharmacy program. With the successful pilot program, Shepherd’s Hope was able to solicit over $1 Million from a local hospital organization to fund the entire program—which would not have been possible without the Diebel Legacy Fund’s initial investment. In the years since, we have continued to invest in programs and clinical operations.

In 2020, Shepherd’s Hope created The Dr Donald Diebel Jr Award to honor an "up and coming" Shepherd's Hope volunteer doctor who embodies the spirit and dedication of Dr Donald Diebel, Jr.