Generous Gift Creates Immigrant and Refugee Health Center Endowed Directorship
The Durbin family, who are long-time supporters of Boston Medical Center and the Immigrant and Refugee Health Center (IRHC), gave $2.5 million to BMC earlier this year to create an endowed directorship for the IRHC. The Durbin Family IRHC Endowed Directorship, which is the first endowed directorship at BMC, will allow the IRHC to address patients’ changing needs. According to a story on BMC’s Why Give page, the Durbin family created an IRHC fellowship in 2022 to “ help train more practitioners specialized in caring for migrant patients and their unique needs, including chronic post-traumatic stress disorder.” The story also notes that the endowed gift creates a permanent source of funding, as only the annual investment returns are spent.
Sarah Kimball, the first Durbin Family IRHC Endowed Director and an Associate Professor in GIM, told BMC: “Chris and Portia’s support and the endowed gift mean the world to me,” she said. “Beyond the material support that allows us to do the work, knowing that there’s a directorship that will live way past me makes me feel hope, and that’s a precious commodity right now.”