Meeting The Everyday Needs To Survive
A catalyst for healthier communities worldwide.
Meeting TENTS is a global health organization focused on disease prevention, health promotion, and access to care. We accelerate the impact of local partners so health improvements continue long after our projects end.
Learn our storyIt started with two people and one trip to Mexico.
In 2002, Joey and Danielle Walker traveled from different states to serve communities in rural Mexico. They didn't know each other. They didn't have a plan beyond showing up. What they found there — the need, the resilience, the gap between what they had to what should be — became the foundation for everything Meeting TENTS does today.
That origin still shapes how the organization works. Meeting TENTS operates as a catalyst — accelerating and multiplying the impact of local partners by providing technical assistance, research and evaluation, train-the-trainer leadership development, and program implementation support. The goal is always to build local capacity so health improvements continue long after Meeting TENTS leaves.
Our vision
To see people live to their full potential.
Three countries. Three crises. One catalyst.
Disease prevention, health promotion, and access to care — delivered through local partners who stay long after we leave.
Mexico
Suicide is the third leading cause of death for youth of Mexico ages 15–29 — rates have risen 198% since 1990. Meeting TENTS confronts this crisis through the Fellowship Program, supporting local leaders like Moises Ayala who counsel at-risk youth on the ground.
Mental health · Youth · FellowshipPhilippines
HIV infections have surged 418% in a decade. Across the country, 92% of women have never been tested. Children are being born into a preventable crisis — because their mothers didn't know.
HIV testing · Saliva testingUganda
Malaria remains one of the leading killers of children under five. A single bed net — costing as little as $15 — protects up to three children for two years. Meeting TENTS works with local partners to get them where they're needed most.
Malaria prevention · Bed nets
The HIV Crisis · Philippines
These children didn't choose this. Their mothers didn't know.
In the Philippines, up to 35% of children born to HIV-positive mothers are infected — not because treatment doesn't exist, but because most mothers were never tested. Across the country, 92% of women have never been tested for HIV.
The barrier is vulnerability and lack of testing.
The rise of HIV among women in the Philippines is not simply a medical issue — it is shaped by deeper social vulnerabilities. Many women live within systems of exploitation and risk. The dark underworld of sex trafficking, child marriage, and abuse places many at increased risk of HIV exposure. At the same time, very few women are being tested.
Without testing, women cannot know their status, access treatment, or take steps to protect their children. The downstream effect is tragic but preventable: babies are being born with HIV because vulnerable mothers are never tested.
"One simple test can protect two lives — a mother and her child."
What Meeting TENTS does.
Meeting TENTS is working with partners in the Philippines — including the Department of Health, clinics, hospitals, and local organizations — to remove the barriers that prevent women from knowing their HIV status. A key focus is introducing saliva-based HIV testing. Unlike traditional blood-draw testing, saliva-based testing is simple, non-invasive, and easier to deploy in community settings.
When a pregnant mother knows her HIV status and receives treatment, the risk of transmitting HIV to her child drops from 45% to below 1%. The science is clear. The treatment is available. The challenge is ensuring women have accessible opportunities to be tested before it is too late.
Peer-Reviewed Research
A 2025 study co-authored by Meeting TENTS researchers found that a one-week HIV education and certification training in Davao raised community health workers' HIV knowledge from an average of 28% to 88% — a statistically significant increase (p < 0.001). Thirty-one workers from universities, clinics, nonprofits, and religious organizations were certified in HIV counseling and testing, expanding access for underserved communities including women and tribal populations.
Read the full study →
A $25 donation provides one HIV test for a mother in the Philippines.
That test could be the difference between a healthy child and one born into a preventable illness.
Support HIV testingSuicide Prevention · Mexico
A generation in crisis — and the leaders rising to meet it.
In Mexico, suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people ages 15–29. Since 1990, the suicide rate has increased by 198%. Behind every statistic is a young person who needed support and didn't have it.
The barrier is access to mental health support.
Across Mexico, mental health resources remain critically scarce — especially in rural and underserved communities where stigma, poverty, and limited infrastructure create compounding barriers. Young people experiencing trauma, isolation, and despair often have nowhere to turn. The systems meant to support them are either absent or overwhelmed.
"When one person is equipped to intervene, an entire community becomes safer."
What Meeting TENTS does.
Meeting TENTS confronts this crisis through the Fellowship Program — identifying, supporting, and equipping local leaders who are already doing the work. One such fellow is Moises Ayala, who is currently pursuing his PhD in psychology while counseling at-risk youth on the ground in Mexico. Through the Fellowship, Meeting TENTS provides Moises with the support, partnerships, and resources to expand his reach and deepen his impact.
The Fellowship model is built on a core belief: lasting change doesn't come from the outside. It comes from empowering local leaders who understand their communities, speak the language, and have earned the trust of the people they serve.
$75 supports a fellow working to prevent youth suicide in Mexico.
Your donation equips local leaders like Moises with the tools, training, and support to reach the young people who need it most.
Support our Fellowship ProgramThe Malaria Crisis · Uganda
A $15 bed net protects up to three children for two years.
Malaria remains one of the leading killers of children under five in Uganda. Every year, thousands of children die from a disease that is entirely preventable — often because their families cannot afford a single bed net.
In Uganda, malaria transmission is year-round. Children under five and pregnant women are the most vulnerable. Bed nets are one of the most effective and cost-efficient interventions available — but many families in rural areas simply cannot afford them or live too far from distribution points to access them.
"The simplest solutions save the most lives."
Meeting TENTS works with local partners in Uganda to purchase and distribute bed nets to the families and communities that need them most. Distribution is paired with community health education — teaching families how to properly use and maintain their nets for maximum protection. It's one of the most cost-effective health interventions in the world. The nets exist. The science is proven. The only thing missing is getting them to the people who need them.
$15 buys a bed net. $75 protects an entire classroom.
Every net distributed means fewer children sick, fewer families in crisis, and more lives protected through the night.
Buy bed nets
Dr. Danielle & Joey Walker, Founders
Danielle Walker holds a doctorate focused specifically on improving access to HIV testing and care for women — twelve years of research that now drives Meeting TENTS' work in the Philippines. Joey Walker's background spans pastoral leadership and large-scale community health coordination, including emergency food distribution serving thousands of families.
Together they represent what makes Meeting TENTS rare: scientific rigor paired with a practitioner's instinct for how change actually happens on the ground. Their shared mission — healthier communities — drives every program, partnership, and decision.
Make a difference today
Small amounts. Real outcomes.
Every dollar donated to Meeting TENTS goes directly toward disease prevention, health promotion, and access to care programs in Mexico, the Philippines, and Uganda. Here's what yours can do.
What your donation makes possible
- $15 provides a bed net that protects up to three children from malaria for two years in Uganda
- $25 covers one HIV rapid test kit — results in 20 minutes, counseling included — in the Philippines
- $75 distributes bed nets to an entire classroom of children through malaria season
- $100 funds a community health session, equipping local health workers with stigma reduction tools and testing resources