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Celebrating Dr. Nancy Welch: A Lifetime of Service

This month, Meals on Wheels Chesapeake joins the community in celebrating the birthday and remarkable life of valued board member Dr. Nancy Welch.

With nearly fifty years of service as a public health director in Virginia, Dr. Welch has created an extraordinary legacy of leadership, innovation, and commitment to improving the health and well-being of others. For generations of Chesapeake residents, she has been a trusted physician, public health advocate, educator, and community leader whose work has supported countless lives.

Dr. Welch’s commitment to public service was shaped long before medical school. Growing up as the eldest daughter in a hardworking family, she learned early lessons about responsibility, compassion, and the power of community. One of her earliest memories is of a devastating hurricane that left her family without electricity shortly after her baby sister was born. At the time, infant formula had to be prepared fresh each day. One neighbor opened their home so the family could use a gas stove to make formula, while another stood in line at an old-fashioned ice house to obtain ice so it could be kept cool. At night, Dr. Welch slept on the floor beside her infant sister and warmed bottles over a candle when feedings were needed. For Dr. Welch, the experience became an enduring example of what communities can accomplish when people care for one another in times of need.

Another formative experience came during her final year at Lynchburg College. Encouraged by the Dean of Students to attend a summer program at Harvard, Dr. Welch faced a difficult choice: participating meant giving up summer employment and the income she needed to pay for her final semester. When a professor learned of her situation, she offered to clear out the pantry in her home if a bed would fit so Dr. Welch could stay there free of charge during her last semester. “I had just enough room to stand on one side of the bed,” she recalls. Acts of generosity like these reinforced her belief that individual kindness can create life-changing opportunities.

Dr. Welch also credits her mother, a hairstylist, with teaching lessons that would later become foundational to her career in medicine and public health. Her mother was the type of person strangers would stop in the grocery store to share their life stories and deepest troubles with. She repeatedly reminded her daughter never to repeat what was shared within the walls of the salon—a lesson in trust and confidentiality that would guide her throughout her career.

Those experiences shaped a lifetime of service. A board-certified pediatrician and public health physician, Dr. Welch has dedicated her career to helping individuals and communities live healthier lives. She also served her country in the United States Army Reserve, retiring with the rank of Colonel. Dr. Welch’s commitment to helping others extended beyond her professional life. She adopted two children from Ukraine and then, wanting to help others, wrote a book about the experience, Healing Emotional Wounds, which chronicles her family’s journey of healing, resilience, and hope.

Recognizing that many health challenges require community-wide solutions, Dr. Welch helped create Healthy Chesapeake, a coalition that brings together healthcare providers, nonprofits, businesses, schools, faith communities, and public agencies to address chronic disease, food insecurity, barriers to care, and other public health needs. More recently, she helped establish a research and evaluation partnership between Meals on Wheels Chesapeake and Old Dominion University, strengthening our ability to understand and improve outcomes for older adults.

Through her service on the Meals on Wheels Chesapeake Board of Directors, Dr. Welch has continued to champion collaboration, innovation, and lifelong learning.

When asked about her experience with Meals on Wheels Chesapeake by Operations Director Chiamaka Akujuobi—who first met Dr. Welch as a Master of Public Health student completing her practicum with Meals on Wheels Chesapeake—Dr. Welch spoke of the profound impact volunteers have on the lives of participants. While she recognizes the importance of food security, she believes social connection is equally vital. “I would still probably put social connection at the highest level,” she explained. “Because I think if you don’t have some social connection or feel some worthiness because of that connection—you don’t eat either.”

Those words reflect a truth Dr. Welch has understood throughout her career: health is about more than medicine. It is about connection, dignity, purpose, and community.

Dr. Welch’s contributions have been recognized throughout Hampton Roads, including being named Woman of the Year by the Women’s Division of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce. Yet those who know her best often point not to awards, but to her humility, compassion, and unwavering belief that every person deserves the opportunity to thrive.

Meals on Wheels Chesapeake is profoundly grateful for Dr. Welch’s leadership, wisdom, compassion, and unwavering commitment to our community. On behalf of our Board of Directors, staff, volunteers, and participants, we wish her a very happy birthday and offer our deepest thanks for a lifetime of service.

Congratulations, Dr. Welch, on an extraordinary career and a legacy that will continue to inspire future generations.