Light Health & Wellness Comprehensive Services, INC.Light Health & Wellness Comprehensive Services, INC.Light Health & Wellness Comprehensive Services, INC.Debbie J. Rock, Executive Director and CEO
LIGHT Health & Wellness Comprehensive Services, Inc.
Debbie Rock is the Founder and Executive Director and CEO of the LIGHT Health & Wellness Comprehensive Services, Inc. (LIGHT). In this role, she manages LIGHT’s eight comprehensive support services provided to children, youth and families whose lives have been impacted by health and societal issues such as HIV/AIDS, mental health/trauma, substance abuse and poverty. LIGHT started as a single day care program serving children and families impacted by HIV/AIDS and recognized as a national model for its services and innovation. Under Mrs. Rock’s leadership, it has grown into an organization with multiple services and a broad client base. Over the last 27 years, LIGHT has impacted approximately 30,000 clients through the provision of comprehensive programs, including counseling, support groups, health prevention, education and risk reduction services, etc. LIGHT, now housed within the New Shiloh Village, creating LIGHT/Rock Child Care Center at the New Shiloh Village.
As an advocate for children and families, Debbie was instrumental in developing legislation for the State of Maryland Kinship Care Program and assisting in the passing of other state legislation that created stand-by guardianship to protect parental rights. Debbie served as chair of the Greater Baltimore HIV/AIDS Planning Council and as a member of the President’s Council on HIV/AIDS under President George W. Bush. She has also served as a member of the Baltimore City Mayor’s Commission on HIV/AIDS, the Greater Baltimore Committee Leadership Board of Directors, the Mercy Medical Center Board of Directors, the Coalition of 100 Black Women, the Northwest Health Policy Advisory Board, the National HIV Prevention Policy Formulation & Education Workgroup, the Baltimore Rotary Club, and the Community Research Advisory Council. Debbie currently serves as the Chair of Morgan State University, School of Social Work Advisory Board.
In all of her roles, Debbie has forged major collaborations on behalf of vulnerable populations with various organizations such as Baltimore Health Enterprise Zone, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, University of Maryland Medical Systems, and Morgan State University, as well as numerous community-based and AIDS service organizations. The business community has recognized Debbie’s various contributions to the Baltimore metropolitan area by naming her one of the Top 100 Women in Maryland, 2003/2012/2016, Top 100 MBE, 2010/2012 and 2011 Top 5 Daily Record Health Care Heroes. Debbie holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Maryland and a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from Morgan State University. Among her many responsibilities, Debbie believes that her greatest role in life is to be a servant of God and to do the work that He has chosen for her to do in delivering holistic services to urban families and communities.
Since 1998, LIGHT’s mission is to promote health and wellness and education of children, families and individuals impacted by health and social disparities.
LIGHT envisions a community where individuals are empowered to make healthy decisions, receive treatment for mental and physical health, and obtain the social support services that will help them live healthy and fulfilling lives.
LIGHT Health and Wellness Comprehensive Services, Inc. (LIGHT), formerly known as the Baltimore Pediatric HIV Program, Inc. (BPHIVP), is a premier community-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization specializing in providing comprehensive quality care for children, women, youth and families.
In 1988, LIGHT’s founder, Debbie Rock, MSW, began serving families as part of the Ashland Support Center as a demonstration Head Start project developed to meet the needs of children and families in Baltimore City who were infected/affected by HIV/AIDS. Working with local pediatric clinics in Baltimore, LIGHT started its tradition of serving medically fragile children by providing child care to infants born with HIV and other health complications.
By 1998, the organization had become an established 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in its own right called the Baltimore Pediatric HIV Program (BPHIVP), formed to meet the growing demand for day and respite care for older children infected and affected by HIV and other illnesses. It was the only program in Maryland that provided a licensed day and respite care specifically for children infected/affected by HIV/AIDS. Recognized as a national model by the Health & Human Services Resources Administration (HRSA).
In 2006, the board of directors decided to change the name of our agency in order to encompass the agency’s servicing of a wider population beyond servicing children. As a result, LIGHT is better able to reach out to the individuals (younger and older adults) and serve the needs of all individuals with its broader mission and goal.
In October 2008, LIGHT will proudly celebrated 10 years of services to children and families affected by HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, mental illness and poverty, and will celebrate 20 years in October, 2018.
Today, LIGHT has served more than 20,000 individuals through child care, in addition to the following complementary programs and services:
This, however, is just the beginning for LIGHT. We will not stop until all families and children have the necessary tools to lead productive lives