Virginia
God’s Doctors
Nearly 20 million people gained health-insurance coverage between 2010 and 2016 under the Affordable Care Act. But about half of insured adults worry about affording their monthly premiums, while roughly the same number worry about affording their deductibles. At least six states don’t include dental coverage in Medicaid, and 10 still refuse to expand Medicaid to low-income adults under the ACA. Many people with addiction never get treatment.
Religious groups have stepped in to offer help—food, community support, medical and dental care—to the desperate.
Over nine months last year, the photographer Matt Eich documented the efforts of five such organizations in his home state of Virginia. These groups operate out of trailers and formerly abandoned buildings; they are led by pastors, nuns, reverends and imams. In many cases, they are the most trusted members of their communities, and they fill care gaps others can’t or won’t. —Bryce Covert
The Health Wagon
Wise, Virginia
The Health Wagon is the oldest mobile free clinic in the country. It was founded in 1980 by Sister Bernie Kenny, a Catholic nun and nurse practitioner, who first offered care out of a Volkswagen Beetle. Today it has four mobile units that operate out of RVs, plus two buildings that offer medical and dental care. It plans to soon open the first nonprofit pharmacy in the region.
This is Appalachia—the western tip of the state, near the Kentucky border. The place has been hit hard by the opioid crisis, and residents suffer from high rates of cardiovascular disease, mental-health problems, diabetes, asthma, and cancer. “We’re the Lung Belt, we’re the Heart Belt, we’re the Kidney-Stone Belt,” Teresa Owens Tyson, who has been with the clinic since its early days and is now its CEO, told me. Most of the people the Health Wagon serves either don’t have insurance or have such high copays and deductibles that they can’t afford to use their policies. Tyson said she’s seen lines of people 1,600 deep waiting at the clinic at 6 a.m. Dental services are in particularly high demand: A 12-year-old recently came in whose teeth were so decayed, the child already needed dentures.
The Rec
Luray, Virginia
Reverend Audre King grew up in Luray. He went away to college, got married, and was living hours away in Northern Virginia when he says God told him in a dream to go back home and begin a ministry there.
He tried to buy a long-abandoned building on his childhood block, but no bank would give him a loan. Finally, the owner agreed to sell it to him for cheap if he used it to serve the community. Digging out all of the dirt and dead animals and hooking the place up to electricity and water took months, but in 2017, the Rec was up and running.
It now serves hundreds of hot meals in area where many people live in motels without kitchens. It also provides mental-health programming, kids’ activities, a computer lab, and fitness classes. “Our goal is that anything, for whatever reason, the town or county can’t or won’t be able to fund—a resource they won’t provide—we want to be that help,” King told me.
All of its services are provided almost entirely by volunteers; the only person who gets paid is a bus driver who transports kids from their schools and homes to the Rec and back. King doesn’t take a salary for either the Rec or at the Eternal Restoration Church of God in Christ, where he serves as minister; he works for a gas company.
When he preaches at the church, he’s teaching the Gospel, he told me; but at the Rec, he’s “living the Gospel.” He pointed to Matthew 25:35–40: “For I was hungry and you gave me food … I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me.”
CrossOver Healthcare Ministry
Richmond, Virginia
Last fiscal year, CrossOver treated more than 6,700 patients, over half of whom came from other countries as immigrants and refugees. Most undocumented immigrants can’t access Medicaid; those who can may still struggle to navigate the complex health-care system, especially if English isn’t their first language. The interdenominational group runs two free clinics offering primary care as well as cardiology and pulmonology, OB-GYN care, dental and vision care, behavioral-health services, pediatric care for children over 3, and a low-cost pharmacy. CrossOver relies on more than 400 volunteers to see patients, and still can’t open up enough appointments for everyone who comes seeking care: “We turn away about 30 to 35 people a week,” Julie Bilodeau, the group’s CEO, told me.
Adams Compassionate Healthcare Network
Chantilly, Virginia
About 10 years ago, Yahya Alvi applied for a job at the Adams Compassionate Healthcare Network, half an hour from Washington, D.C. The organization’s president told him that his dream was to open a free clinic. “That is my passion,” Alvi responded. He started by securing empty space at a nearby mosque and taking free equipment from a clinic that was giving it away. At the beginning, he employed only one doctor and himself, and the clinic was open just one day a week.
Today, it operates six days a week and has two paid nurse practitioners in addition to the two doctors. The clinic was founded by Muslims, but it accepts anyone without insurance or the money to pay for medical care, from anywhere in the country and practicing any religion. “Our religion says that all human beings are created by God almighty,” Alvi told me. “And all deserve equal treatment.”
Madam Russell United Methodist
Saltville, Virginia
One day in 2021, Steve Hunt was on the side of the road, trying to hitchhike to a grocery store about seven miles from his home in Saltville, Virginia. Hunt had lost his sight a few years earlier, after an infection in his leg went septic and he fell and knocked his retinas loose. Lisa Bryant saw him when she pulled up at a stop sign. She’s a pastor, and she had just finished a service at one church and had to be at another in an hour. She was in a hurry. But just the week before, she had preached about Jesus calling his followers to bring the blind and suffering to him. She gave Hunt a ride.
The interaction came at a crucial time for Hunt. “I was at bottom at that point,” he told me. His house was strewn with glass shards because he kept breaking things. He was struggling with addiction. “Everything was falling down around me, mentally and emotionally,” he said. “I was asking God to kill me that day she picked me up.”
Instead, Hunt started going to the new 12-step program Bryant had started at her main church, Madam Russell United Methodist. “They just kind of pulled around me, supported me,” he said of the congregation. He’s helped Bryant expand that program, the only one in a town where opioid use is rife but all the addiction-recovery programs are oversubscribed. Bryant has also set up community-service opportunities at her church for people convicted of drug offenses, and is working to secure transitional housing for people dealing with addiction.
Bryant doesn’t think the point of being a Christian is just to get to heaven after death, but to see the kingdom of heaven on Earth, too. She’s realized that “giving these people a new community, a healthy community, is one of the best things we can do for them,” she said. “We all need each other. That’s just how we’re created.”
Support for this story was provided by the Magnum Foundation, in partnership with the Commonwealth Fund.
PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. (WSET) — A proposed $67 billion merger between Florida-based NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy could reshape the utility landscape in Virginia and affect what customers pay on their power bills.
NextEra Energy has agreed to acquire Dominion Energy in a deal that would create the largest regulated utility company in the country. The merger would require state approval before it could move forward.
Dominion Energy says the merger will put more money in customers’ pockets. The company has promised to distribute more than $2 billion to customers within two years after the merger is complete, with 80% of that money going to customers in Virginia.
Dominion Energy describes the deal as a move focused on “growth, scale, and affordability.” A spokesperson for the company said the merger would “strengthen our ability to meet this historic demand.”
Virginia Tech public policy professor David Bieri said that demand is being driven by data centers. Bieri said, “Part of the reason why the acquisition is happening is because it gives NextEra access to the honey pot or profit areas.”
Dominion Energy serves much of Southside Virginia, including the Halifax, South Boston, Chatham and Gretna areas, and also covers parts of Concord, Appomattox, Altavista and Lexington.
Sen. Mark Peake, R-District 8, represents some of those areas in the Virginia Senate. ABC13 asked whether he believes the merger will be good for his constituents.
Peake said, “Well, I hope I will say the one thing that I’ve heard is that my understanding is that there will be a rebate to Dominion customers, which should be an amount equal to offset the RGGI charges that the Spanberger administration has hit Dominion, well, all customers with.”
But Peake also said he is not happy that NextEra is an outside state company and wants to keep power company’s operating locally.
SEE ALSO: Local leaders approve $100B AI data campus in Pittsylvania County amid citizen concerns
While Dominion Energy said, “The merger won’t impact how we operate in Virginia or how we serve our customers. We’ll continue operating as Dominion Energy Virginia, and our customers will continue receiving the same service, from the same team, in the same way they always have. We’ll remain headquartered in Richmond with the same utility leadership. So lots of continuity.”
Before any merger benefits could reach customers, the deal would need approval from regulators, including Virginia’s State Corporation Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Delegate Madison Whittle, who represents parts of Pittsylvania County and Halifax County, said, “There are already projections that ‘rates will go down’ and that ‘rates will go up.’ I do not think there is enough public information at this point to determine either. While the companies have suggested a $2.25 Billion package of ‘bill credits’ spread over 2 years among Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, regulators must look at total overall cost to customers. For us, it will be important to look to the Virginia State Corporation Commission. The State Corporation Commission (SCC) will continue to regulate Dominion Energy’s rates, infrastructure, and operations in the state if it combines with NextEra. State utility regulation remains mandatory, and the SCC must approve the merger itself before it can be finalized.”
Bieri cautioned that the merger is not guaranteed. “This is the intent to merge that is very important, it is not a done deal because the most important thing is that this deal needs to be approved by a variety of federal and state regulators,” he said. Bieri added, “The government can say ‘no,’ as is often the case for a variety of anti-trust and other reasons.”
VIRGINIA – Drivers nationwide are still feeling the pain at the pump as gas prices continue to fluctuate. 10 News is working for you to break down what drivers can expect across the region.
As of Tuesday, May 19, the AAA states that the average price for regular gasoline in Virginia is $4.310 per gallon. Premium is averaging $5.140 per gallon, while diesel sits at $5.546.
In our region, some of the highest gas prices are in Botetourt, Highland and Nelson counties, where drivers are paying $4.32, $4.49, and $4.403 per gallon for regular gas, respectively.
Closer to home, average gas prices have increased by 5.6 cents per gallon in Roanoke over the last week, to $4.22 per gallon, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 155 stations in Roanoke. That’s 39.5 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and $1.33 higher than a year ago. GasBuddy price reports show that the cheapest station in Roanoke was at $3.93 per gallon on Sunday, while the most expensive was at $4.39 per gallon.
Across the state, the lowest price was $3.82 per gallon while the highest was $5.89 per gallon.
“The national average price of gasoline spent much of last week drifting lower after jumping early in the week as oil prices softened on hopes that diplomatic progress between the U.S. and Iran could help ease supply concerns,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
He continued, “However, that optimism faded after President Trump’s meeting with China’s Xi Jinping failed to produce a breakthrough on Iran, while renewed warnings toward Tehran have helped push oil prices higher again. With global oil inventories continuing to trend toward historically tight levels, markets remain extremely sensitive to geopolitical developments and potential supply disruptions. As a result, gasoline and diesel prices are likely to remain volatile, and with Memorial Day approaching, any sustained increase in oil prices could begin pushing retail fuel prices higher again in the weeks ahead.”
However, there are still some deals throughout Virginia to keep on your radar.
According to GasBuddy:
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In Roanoke, Sam’s Club on Towne Square Boulevard and BJ’s on Hershberger Road continue to have some of the lowest prices in the area. Both have regular gas for $3.97 per gallon. BJ’s has premium for $4.32 and diesel for $5.24, whereas Sam’s Club has premium for $4.34. GasBuddy is also showing that the Kroger and Exxon on Hardy Road both have regular gas for $3.99. Exxon has premium and diesel gas for $5.46, and Kroger has it for $4.59 and $5.19.
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Going further south, you can find regular gas at Sam’s Club at 215 Piedmont Pl in Danville for $3.87 per gallon and premium and diesel for $4.69 and $4.98, respectively, according to GasBuddy.
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In the Lynchburg area, some of the lowest gas prices can be found at Sam’s Club on Wards Road, where regular is $4.01 per gallon, premium is $4.77, and diesel is $4.89. Another place to save is at the Sheetz on Wards Road, where regular gas is $4.04 per gallon.
Count on 10 News to bring you the latest price at the pump every morning.
To find out where the lowest fuel prices are near you, visit GasBuddy’s website.
Since the U.S. and Israel launched a joint war against Iran on Feb. 28, the cost of crude oil, the main ingredient in gasoline, has spiked and swung rapidly. That’s because the conflict has caused deep supply chain disruptions and cuts from major oil producers across the Middle East.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
A West Virginia man is charged with second-degree murder and concealment of a body connected to a woman with ties to the Tri-Cities.
Court records reveal Angela Whitaker’s sister reported her missing after she stopped contacting family in Bristol, Virginia.
Investigators said Whitaker had recently moved to Bluefield to live with Donald Pennington, whom she had previously met while he worked at an O’Reilly Auto Parts store in Bristol. The sister told investigators Pennington offered her an assistant manager role, which prompted the move.
The complaint details Facebook messages, surveillance video, and witness statements that allegedly link Pennington to Whitaker’s death and the disposal of her body in a wooded area near Bastian, Virginia.
Court documents said the body was recovered last week by investigators in Bland County and taken for an autopsy.
Pennington remains in jail on a $500,000 bond.
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