WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 10, 2025) — The District of Columbia Hospital Association (DCHA) has named Food & Friends a recipient of the 2025 Vincent C. Gray Health Equity Award, recognizing the organization’s leadership in reducing racial and socioeconomic health disparities and integrating food as a critical component of healthcare quality and access. The award recognizes individuals and organizations that are making health equity a reality in their community and leveraging engagement to improve health outcomes for those at high-risk for health disparities.
Since its founding in 1988, Food & Friends has tackled health equity through nutrition and food access by preparing and delivering medically tailored meals (MTMs) and medically tailored groceries (MTGs) designed by registered dietitians for individuals living with serious and chronic illnesses. Many of these individuals face significant barriers to health, including food insecurity, reliance on Medicare/Medicaid, and disproportionate rates of diet-related chronic conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. These individuals often lack access to medically appropriate nutrition and experience higher rates of hospitalization, poorer disease management, and reduced quality of life. While many may be eligible to receive food from anti-hunger providers, the complexity of their medical condition requires a specialized diet offered through our medically tailored meal program. In 2025, the organization delivered more than 2.2 million meals to 6,200 residents across D.C., Maryland and northern Virginia, including caregivers and dependents.
A regional leader of the growing Food Is Medicine movement, Food & Friends’ work has demonstrated that access to medically tailored meals improves health outcomes, reduces hospitalizations, and lowers healthcare costs. In 2024, the organization became the first agency in the nation to earn accreditation from the Food Is Medicine Coalition (FIMC).
“We are deeply honored to receive the Vincent C. Gray Health Equity Award,” said Carrie Stoltzfus, Chief Executive Officer of Food & Friends. “Every meal we deliver represents more than nourishment, its comfort, stability, and hope during some of life’s most difficult moments. Through our medically tailored meals and nutrition support, we see the difference each day in our clients’ lives: parents who regain strength to care for their children, older adults who can manage their health with dignity, and families who feel less alone on their journey to healing. This recognition affirms the power of community-based care and the role we all play in building a more equitable and compassionate healthcare system.”
The Maryland Medically Tailored Meals & Hospitalization Utilization Report, and independent evaluation conducted in partnership with Maryland’s Community Health Resources Commission and other health systems, confirmed these outcomes. The study tracked 3,000 Food & Friends and Moveable Feast clients over three years, examining sociodemographic indicators such as Medicaid and Medicare eligibility to understand the impact on populations historically excluded from equitable healthcare. Results showed that participants who received medically tailored meals experienced:
- 37% reduction in hospital charges, averaging $9,020 in savings per person
- 45% decrease in potentially avoidable inpatient hospitalizations
- 34% reduction in hospital visits
Among the highest-cost patients, hospital charges dropped 67%, an average savings of more than $52,000 per person. These findings underscore that integrating nutrition into healthcare is not only a compassionate approach—it’s an effective and equitable one.
Food & Friends continues to partner with managed care organizations, health insurers, and policymakers to advance the integration of food as a healthcare intervention. Through these partnerships, Food & Friends demonstrates how addressing poor nutrition can improve clinical outcomes and reduce disparities in care, especially for those living with chronic illnesses in low-income and historically marginalized communities.
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About Food & Friends
Food & Friends is the Washington, D.C. region’s leading authority on Food is Medicine and the only community-based organization delivering medically tailored meals and providing medical nutrition therapy to neighbors living with cancer, HIV/AIDS, and other serious illnesses. Food & Friends’ services are free of charge to recipients who qualify solely based on their health status and nutritional needs, including for their dependents and caregivers. Monday-Saturday, staff and volunteers deliver to 6,172 square miles including the District of Columbia, nine counties in Maryland, and seven counties and six independent cities in Virginia. Nearly 2 million meals will be delivered to more than 5,500 individuals in 2026. Since 1988, Food & Friends has delivered more than 32.6 million meals to 53,500 individuals. The organization is accredited by the national Food is Medicine Coalition.
For more information, visit FoodAndFriends.org or on Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn.
About the Vincent C. Gray Health Equity Award
The DC Hospital Association believes that to achieve health equity we must understand the challenges, aspirations, barriers, and realities of the community. DCHA recognizes the importance of working with its member hospitals and the community to ensure health care quality and access for everyone, especially high-risk groups. The Vincent C. Gray Health Equity Award honors and recognizes individuals and organizations that are making health equity a reality in their community and leveraging engagement to improve health outcomes for those at high-risk for health disparities. The award will go to an individual and hospital/organization that demonstrate contributions and efforts that reduce disparities in health care quality and access.