In 1992, Roanoke Times & World News reported that almost 40,000 residents of Northwest Roanoke lacked access to medical care.

The Reverend Dr. William Lee of Loudon Avenue Christian Church realized then that he had to do something about it.

“Without Loudon Avenue Church, there could be no New Horizons,” declared Reverend Lee on Tuesday night during the dedication to a new educational wing named in his honor at New Horizons Health Care near the Valley View Mall. “It took us 17 years to go from dream to reality . . . Our dream started in a dingy church basement, but we kept on dreaming.”

Since those early days, Reverend Lee’s dream has impacted the lives of thousands of Roanoke families who have received care and attention at New Horizons.

Eileen Lepro, Executive Director of New Horizons Health Care, credits Lee’s “drive and persistence” for the community health group’s success. “Difficult things take a long time; impossible things, a little longer,” noted Lepro.

A crowd of almost 75 people packed into the newly commissioned Rev. Dr. William L. Lee Education Center.

The new 15,000 square foot facility was financed in part with federal stimulus funds provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 championed by the Obama Administration.

Though Congressman Bob Goodlatte voted against the stimulus bill, Rev. Lee nevertheless credited Bob Goodlatte with working in a “nonpartisan way” behind the scenes as a “friend of the project.”

Goodlatte, who was honored along with Rev. Lee during the dedication ceremony, maintained that the federal government was getting ‘”the biggest bang for its buck” out of New Horizons HealthCare.

Since December 2000, when the doors to New Horizons (formerly Kuumba Community Health and Wellness Center) opened, the community-based healthcare group has registered more than 11,000 individual patients. Although some patients have health insurance, New Horizons estimates that “more than 50% have no health insurance and many are considered ‘under-insured.”

“It just breaks my heart that in this country, people lack healthcare,” argued Lee. “We cannot live a good life without helping others.”

The educational center at New Horizons is truly a community-wide effort. Roanoke-based Breakell, Inc., General Contractors, completed the renovations with input from local designers and planners.

Dick Roberts, Chairman of the Board of Directors of New Horizons Healthcare, who introduced the evening’s honoree and unveiled a picture of the educational center’s namesake, said, “We are thrilled to show off our clinic renovations and to honor our founding chairman, Bill Lee for his leadership in improving access to healthcare for the citizens of Roanoke.”