Jul 17, 2025
Beyond the Clinic Walls: Organizing for Health at PHC
You can treat symptoms at the clinic, but you have to organize to change the systems that cause them.
For more than 35 years, Partnership Health Center (PHC) has provided high-quality care to Western Montanans, including people living in poverty, without insurance, or experiencing homelessness. They offer mobile care, transportation support, a sliding fee scale, and accept Medicaid – whatever it takes to meet people where they are.
What sets PHC apart isn’t just their exceptional care, but their bold commitment to organizing with patients, staff, and community members to change the conditions that lead to poor health in the first place. They have a full-time community organizer who helps people build confidence as leaders and push for changes in the systems that impact their health – like housing affordability, access to healthy food, and more.
This kind of work is rare in a healthcare setting, and it reflects what we also believe at Headwaters: the people closest to health problems should lead the solutions. That’s why PHC is one of the first grantees of our new Family Power Fund, which supports nonprofits that grow local leadership, speak up to make sure policies support the health of families and communities, and share stories that spark change.
We spoke with David Quattrocchi, Community Organizer at PHC, about what it means to organize from inside a clinic, and how that work is building power in our region.
——
How did organizing become part of your approach to care at Partnership Health Center?
You can treat symptoms at the clinic, but you have to organize to change the systems that cause them. Our staff and providers hear every day what’s making life hard for people, and what they need. When we kept hearing about hunger, we created the PHC food pantry. People can’t engage if they’re hungry or just trying to survive. But those are the folks who should be leading the work, because they know exactly what’s broken and what would actually help. Meeting basic needs is the first step. For us, community organizing became a natural extension of care. We can meet needs and engage people, whether that’s at the clinic, or in a shelter, a camp, or a drop-in center.
How are you supporting youth, parents, and caregivers to step into leadership?
We’re creating spaces where people feel like they belong and can see themselves as leaders. One example is the Watershed Navigation Center, a drop-in space connected to affordable housing here in Missoula where we’re working with youth. We’re also partnering with schools across Missoula county to make sure young people have safe, accessible spaces to be themselves and get support. For families, we know single moms are the most frequently evicted group in the country, so we helped launch a Right to Counsel program so folks facing eviction can get free legal help. And we’re already seeing leaders come up through that work.
Can you share a story that shows how your organizing work has impacted someone in our community?
I met someone while doing outreach who was unhoused, queer, and constantly being targeted just for existing. She started coming to our meetings and just took off – learned local policy fast, stood her ground, and began teaching others, including me. Now she gives powerful public comment, helps lead actions, and does outreach herself. Eventually, someone who heard her speak offered her housing. That stability unlocked even more of the leadership that was already there. I’m just really proud to know her.
How are you connecting people to statewide and national movements, and why is that important right now?
We’ve had patients speak at the legislature on issues like trans rights and renters rights. We’re also part of a statewide coalition addressing homelessness, because impact takes coordination, especially with so much support falling away federally. Nationally, our work made it into a Supreme Court amicus brief on the criminalization of poverty, showing how rolling back protections could let towns pass laws that punish poor people for existing. We’re also offering organizing training so more people can step into advocacy, figure out what works, and learn to keep pushing even when change is slow.
What advice do you have for others doing community organizing, and what do you hope healthcare providers take from your work?
The people most impacted by the issues are the ones who know the solutions – we just have to listen. I follow the 80/20 rule: 80% listening, 20% reframing. When someone shares how the system has failed them, I’m there to say, no one should have to struggle like this, and we can change it together. For healthcare providers, I hope this work encourages folks to go beyond the clinic walls, get into the rooms where decisions are being made, and bring their patients with them.
——
Partnership Health Center is showing what can happen when a clinic listens, shows up, and takes action alongside their staff and patients. We’re honored to support them through our new Family Power Fund. Meet all of our inaugural Family Power Fund grantees on our Past Awards page.
Thank you to David Quattrocchi for sitting down with us, and for the powerful work he and Partnership Health Center are engaged in. David is always looking for partners – whether it’s funders, healthcare providers, or anyone working to improve people’s lives. Reach out to him at quattrocchid@phc.missoula.mt.us to explore how you can work together.