As a high school freshman in 2024, Ali Abidi’s inspiration for SEHAT began with a simple but powerful realization about healthcare access and equity.

From an early age, during visits to Pakistan, where his family is from, Ali saw firsthand how limited resources and infrastructure could make it difficult for families to access basic medical care. He initially thought such barriers were primarily challenges faced in developing parts of the world.

His perspective changed when a school friend shared that his family did not have health insurance and struggled to afford healthcare. His friend was also having difficulty finding free and low-cost clinics nearby. Ali discovered that while many community health centers, nonprofit programs, social services, and government resources existed, information about them was often scattered and difficult to navigate.

This experience helped Ali recognize two connected problems: people needed an easier way to find affordable healthcare resources, and broader barriers such as insurance, cost, transportation, language, and lack of awareness continued to prevent people from accessing care.

To address the first problem, Ali researched free and low-cost healthcare resources across the United States and developed ApolloHealth, a free mobile application that helps users locate nearby Federally Qualified Health Centers and free and charitable clinics.

As he researched the second problem more in-depth, Ali realized that technology alone could not address health inequity. Many valuable healthcare, social-service, and government resources already existed, but greater awareness, education, community outreach, and collaboration were needed to connect people with them and address the broader barriers affecting healthcare access.

This realization led Ali to found SEHAT (Securing Equitable Healthcare Access Together), a youth-led nonprofit based in Onalaska, Wisconsin. The name also reflects Ali's heritage: “sehat” (صحت) means “health” in Urdu language.

Today, SEHAT is advancing health equity through education, healthcare-resource awareness, community partnerships, technology, direct community support, and student-driven advocacy and is helping individuals and families better understand, find, and access the healthcare resources available to them.