MarbleRoad is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) public charity incorporated in Washington, DC in September 2010. The mission of MarbleRoad is to connect people who have complex illnesses with the resources they need to help them improve their lives.


A complex illness can be persistent and substantially disabling or life threatening, and requires treatments and services across a variety of domains of care to ensure the best possible outcomes for each unique patient. MarbleRoad focuses on rare or undiagnosed diseases and the needs of community health center patients who seek specialty care services not offered by their primary care providers. 

MarbleRoad provides financial assistance for two primary groups of health care need categories:

(1) Patients of community health centers who need specialty care services:

Spread across 50 states and all U.S. territories, there are 1,250 Community Health Centers that provide vital primary care to 20 million Americans with limited financial resources. Directed by boards with majority consumer membership, health centers focus on meeting the basic health care needs of their individual communities. Health centers maintain an open-door policy, providing treatment regardless of an individual’s income or insurance coverage. Health centers serve the homeless, residents of public housing, migrant farm workers and others with emergent and chronic health care needs, but limited resources to secure treatment through traditional channels. 

Health centers provide substantial benefits to their communities:

  • They serve 20% of low-income, uninsured people.
  • 70% of their patients live in poverty.
  • They provide comprehensive care, including physical, mental and dental care.
  • They save the national health care system between $9.9 billion and $17.6 billion a year by helping patients avoid emergency rooms and making better use of preventive services.

Above language from the NACHC website: http://nachc.com/about-our-health-centers.cfm

(2) Individuals who are suffering from rare or undiagnosed diseases and disorders:

In the U.S., a rare disease is one that affects fewer than 200,000 people. This definition comes from the Orphan Drug Act of 1983 and is slightly different from the definition used in Europe. There are nearly 7,000 rare diseases affecting nearly 30 million Americans. In other words, as many as one in ten Americans are suffering from a rare disease... Besides dealing with their specific medical problems, people with rare diseases struggle to get a proper diagnosis, find information, and get treatment. The rarity of their conditions makes medical research more difficult. 

Above language from the Rare Disease Day US website: http://rarediseaseday.us


The MarbleRoad logo was designed pro bono by Francisco Araujo, a graphic designer from Portugal.

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