Giving where you live
Longtime educator Susan Thompson supports school-based telehealth in Rockingham County, expanding access to care for local students.
Ask Susan Thompson why she supports school-based telehealth in Rockingham County, and she’ll tell you it’s rooted in a simple belief: You help your neighbors.
That belief has shaped her four decades in the county and guides the way she thinks about giving: If something improves life in the place you call home, you invest in it.
Susan has made two major gifts to expand and sustain school-based telehealth in Rockingham County.
The impact of her one-time contribution and her multiyear pledge was immediately clear, especially after visiting Moss Street Elementary, a school where many students face significant economic challenges.
“Of all the ways to direct my giving, I thought school-based telehealth would be the most helpful in terms of serving the people here,” Susan says. Touring Moss Street confirmed it. “I saw exactly what was happening and thought, this is a no-brainer. If we can keep children in school who would normally have to go home, and their parents don’t have to miss work, that’s important. For many of these kids, this may be their only regular access to a doctor.”
A veteran mathematics and business technologies instructor at Rockingham Community College, Susan sees the educational and community benefits of keeping kids healthy and in the classroom. “Anything that makes a student more attentive in class or less likely to be absent has to be a good thing,” she says.
She also recognizes the long-term ripple effect. “People want schools to solve problems that aren’t really the schools’ problems,” she says. “But when we support families this way, it becomes a step toward getting the kind of health care they need. Some of these children may not have access otherwise.”
Susan’s commitment to Rockingham County runs deep. She previously served on the Annie Penn Hospital Foundation board and now represents Rockingham County on the Cone Health Philanthropy board. She also serves on the Salvation Army advisory board and the Barry L. Joyce Local Cancer Support Fund board. She views giving as both a responsibility and a privilege. “The impact isn’t just the gift you give in that moment,” she says. “Sometimes when people see you investing in something, they decide it’s worth investing in too.”
To Susan, community is a place where people feel supported, where they can thrive and where their contributions matter. Her investment in school-based telehealth reflects her belief that thoughtful giving begins close to home yet reaches much farther. Her gift is both practical and profound: Help the children, and the whole community grows stronger.
