VENICE FAMILY CLINIC COMMEMORATES YEAR OF RESILIENCE & LOOKS AHEAD TO 2026
Nonprofit Community Health Center Continues to Protect Patients and Access to Health Care, Prepares for Unprecedented 2026 Challenges
VENICE, CA (January 8, 2026) — Throughout 2025, nonprofit community health center Venice Family Clinic remained a critical lifeline for patients across Los Angeles County: delivering compassionate, high-quality care during a year marked by public health challenges, growing local need and ongoing funding instability.
“In a year defined by uncertainty, Venice Family Clinic stayed focused on what matters most: caring for our patients and protecting their human right to health care,” said Dr. Mitesh Popat, CEO of Venice Family Clinic. “No matter how the landscape shifts in 2026 and beyond, we’ll continue to be here – providing care, resources and advocacy for our patients and communities every step of the way.”
Continuing to Meet Local Needs Despite Federal Challenges
Food insecurity remained a critical concern for Clinic patients for throughout 2025, with 38 percent of screened patients at risk of hunger. Federal budget uncertainty, October’s government shutdown and the termination of CalFresh Healthy Living (SNAP-Ed) funding for nutrition education programs further exacerbated the issue by putting food assistance for Angelenos at severe risk.
To meet local need and despite financial uncertainty about funding sources for food programming, Venice Family Clinic continued to offer its Free Food Market program at sites in Inglewood, Gardena, Culver City, Santa Monica and Venice. These distributions provided more than 916,000 pounds of healthy food to 8,264 people each month on average.
Caring for Communities
When devastating wildfires struck Los Angeles in January, Venice Family Clinic quickly organized fire relief events to collect and distribute nonperishable food, hygiene kits, bottled water, clothing, hot and healthy meals and other supplies for fire victims and displaced residents.
This spirit of community care continued throughout the year, including at the 46th annual Venice Family Clinic Art Walk + Auction, which raised $575,000 for Clinic services and highlighted both artists impacted by the wildfires and Black artists from Altadena. The Clinic also launched the Venice Family Clinic Essentials Fund to provide direct aid to patients struggling to afford essentials including groceries, transportation and hygiene items.
The annual celebration of National Health Center Week brought a week of programs and events to Clinic locations in Inglewood, Venice, Mar Vista and Hawthorne. Events offered a wide variety services and resources including free and healthy food, health insurance enrollment, vaccines and immunizations, group fitness classes and a free back-to-school clothes shopping experience for families.
Continuing to Expand in Inglewood and the South Bay
The Clinic also continued to deepen its presence in Inglewood, supporting families who face real challenges getting the comprehensive health care and economic opportunity they deserve. In August, the first floor of the Clinic’s Inglewood Crenshaw Family and Children Center opened with a new Child Development Program offered in partnership with LAUSD Division of Adult and Career Education. The certificate course trains community members in child development, parenting strategies, curriculum development and more so they can pursue a state license to work as a preschool assistant.
During the holiday season, Venice Family Clinic revived its beloved Children’s Holiday Movie after a COVID-related hiatus, welcoming families to the Miracle Theater in Inglewood for a screening of Elf, photos with Santa and gift bags for children.
The Clinic also continued to expand its services in the South Bay, opening a new location at Torrance SkyPark that offers primary care as well as in-house dermatology services.
Pioneering Innovation in Community Health Care
During the past year, Venice Family Clinic continued to pioneer innovations that improve lives, both here in Los Angeles and across the United States. The Clinic established in-house insulin pump expertise to support patients with diabetes, training multiple providers to set up and calibrate insulin pumps, and allowing patients to receive seamless, coordinated diabetes care from the Clinic rather than having to be referred to outside specialists.
Clinic providers Ligaya Scarlett, FNP-C, and Karen Wilson Jenné, FNP-C, presented on the Clinic’s nurse practitioner-led diabetes program at the American Diabetes Association’s 85th Scientific Sessions – the world’s largest diabetes conference, with more than 17,000 attendees from around the globe. Scarlett also published research in the Journal of Diabetes Research examining the effectiveness of the Clinic’s team-based care models in supporting continuous glucose monitor access for underserved diabetic patients.
In June, the Clinic introduced a new mobile behavioral health van as part of its pioneering street medicine program, bringing mental health services directly to patients in shelters and on the streets. The Clinic also advanced preventive care for people experiencing homelessness, including piloting a self-swab HPV screening program to expand access to life-saving cancer prevention via an easier, more private and equally accurate test.
Advocating for All Angelenos
Throughout 2025, Venice Family Clinic advocated for its patients’ health and access in the face of federal funding shifts, cuts to vital health and food programs and increased immigration enforcement.
When the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) limited immigrant access to health and wellbeing programs, Clinic CEO Dr. Mitesh Popat publicly condemned the action as “another assault on immigrant communities” and called on Congress and the courts to reject the decision. Dr. Popat, Clinic staff and patients shared this perspective and the Clinic’s challenges via community roundtables and in local and national media outlets, including Politico, The Hill, Los Angeles Times and KQED, to address issues ranging from Medi-Cal cuts and immigration raids to the importance of telehealth and community-based care.
Clinic staff and patients also visited Washington, D.C. and Sacramento, to meet with lawmakers and underscore the importance of protecting our public health infrastructure.
Looking Forward to 2026
As it enters 2026, Venice Family Clinic remains steadfast in its commitment to health care for all. Community health centers across the state face mounting pressure from upcoming changes to Medi-Cal (Medicaid) and federal cuts to critical nutrition and wellness programs. Many of the 45,000 patients Venice Family Clinic serves – 87% percent of whom live at or below the federal poverty level and 80% of whom rely on Medi-Cal for their health care needs – depend on these public programs to meet basic health and nutrition needs. Medi-Cal reimbursements also account for nearly half of the Clinic’s revenue, sustaining essential care for individual patients and supporting community health across Los Angeles.
Despite these challenges, Venice Family Clinic continues to look ahead: strengthening programs, expanding access and building new pathways to care wherever possible. Among plans already in the works is the launch of a Community-Based Doula Job Training Program in February that will advance birth equity and improve maternal and infant health outcomes in underserved communities.
For more information about Venice Family Clinic and its commitment to Los Angeles, please visit venicefamilyclinic.org.
About Venice Family Clinic
Venice Family Clinic is a nonprofit community health center that is a leader in providing comprehensive, high-quality health care to more than 45,000 people in need annually, regardless of their income, insurance or immigration status. The Clinic serves an area that spans the Westside of Los Angeles, Inglewood, the South Bay and everywhere in between. It has a network of clinic locations and Early Head Start centers in Venice, Santa Monica, Mar Vista, Inglewood, Culver City, Redondo Beach, Carson, Gardena, Torrance and Hawthorne, plus mobile clinics and an expansive street medicine program to reach people experiencing homelessness. The Clinic’s comprehensive care also includes mental health services, dental care, vision services, substance use treatment, prescription medications, domestic violence counseling, HIV services, healthy food distributions, health education, health insurance enrollment, child development services and more. For more information, please visit VeniceFamilyClinic.org and follow on Facebook, X and Instagram.