Lisa M. Wigfall

Listen to this article

Lisa Wigfall spent 18 years as a medical social worker helping people meet their basic needs. Along the way she discovered significant numbers of people who were underserved or simply falling off the radar. The most prevalent cases were heterosexual women suffering from HIV/AIDS.

“More advocacy, support, and programs were needed to improve the quality of life for individuals we serve,” she says. “I believe the turning point in my career began when I understood the problems and the resources available.”

In 2005 Wigfall founded Quality Home Care Services, a tax-exempt organization set up to provide integrated care services to those living with HIV/AIDS as well as those in need of personal care services.

Quality Home Care began as a Medicaid agency, but Wigfall soon recognized the need to provide services to the uninsured, so she established the Hope Is Vital Home Care program, a service for those who did not benefit from Medicaid, Medicare or other insurance programs.

“Through my journey, I discovered healthy adults would and could raise healthy children, so my mission initially was to serve women and children, and to place a particular emphasis on single women,” she says.

Along the way she encountered failure, rejection, and disappointment.

“I call this my journey of understanding,” Wigfall says. “It’s my road map, and when failure or rejections occur, my initial response is to feel, absorb, and pray that I have learned the lesson. I believe setbacks are lessons you should learn and grow from.”

Supporting and assisting HIV/AIDS patients require a special understanding, and the Quality Home Care’s mission reflects the organization’s commitment by promising “to improve the overall quality of life of individuals with health disparities and to reduce the stigma through education, advocacy and support.”

Wigfall grew up on Lady’s Island, in South Carolina’s Low Country.

“I believe people and principles of the Gullah culture shaped my life,” she says.

The Gullah population is made up of the ancestors of slaves brought to America from Africa in the 1700s. Through the years, they have preserved their rich cultural heritage, and are known for their colorful dialect, their distinctive foods and their distinctive art.  They live along the southeast coast and maintain a close-knit community.

Wigfall holds her mother up as her role model.

“My mother grew up in South Carolina and faced the death of both her parents at a young age,” Wigfall says.

Despite facing such tragedy, Wigfall’s mother,

Vermelle Matthews, obtained a bachelor’s, a Masters, and earned 18 credit hours toward a Ph.D.

“My mother has special qualities that I strive to employ: integrity, character, charisma and commitment,” Wigfall says. “I have been fortunate to have had many role models and mentors throughout my life, to whom I am deeply indebted, but the person I most deeply admire, and who has influenced my leadership style with her blueprint for accomplishment, is my mother.”

Through Quality Home Care Services, Wigfall works to help young mothers stay healthy and survive to be role models for their own children.