Erica Rogers is the founder of Braveheart Foundation and a 16-year tenured registered nurse. The Southern University graduate is a 2021 honoree of the City Business “Health Care Hero Award”. Erica started a career at Houston’s MD Anderson Cancer Center in 2008. Driven by the quote, “Compassion is the highest level of intellect”, Erica loved her job right away, but soon became interested in venturing “outside the walls of the hospital” to participate in community outreach work. After developing a close and lasting relationship with a patient in cancer treatment, she understood what was tugging at her heartstrings – she knew that she could be doing more. Braveheart, was created as a peer-to-peer support system that helped patients and their families cope with the process of cancer treatment. The project’s success inspired her to pursue similar endeavors on a larger scale. In 2014, relocating back to Louisiana with plans to embark on a mission trip to Africa she joined a small group of clinicians in Uganda, providing essential medical care to dozens of people. After that trip, Braveheart became a worldwide mission. Braveheart has a mission to promote health education, equitable health services, and sustainable health programming to underserved and marginalized communities worldwide. Acute medical, vision, dental, women’s health, and podiatry are the specialties that are provided in the free medical clinics. Since the inception of Braveheart in 2016, over seven thousand villagers have been impacted with free health services during the annual medical missions. Braveheart foundation uses minimal funding and resources to impact many by providing mass drug administration and in-depth health education in the most desolate villages of Uganda. Braveheart has a partnership with Smiling Hearts orphanage in Lake Buyonyi, Uganda. Braveheart supplies the orphanage with a yearly supply of medications in the kiddie pharmacy while also providing yearly well-kid health check-ups, malaria, dental and vision screening with necessary treatment.
In March 2019, the world shifted as we faced the deadly covid-19 pandemic. Braveheart was unable to return to Uganda during this time. The organization took a quick pivot by going into communities to build capacity and bring awareness to the available resources around Louisiana that provide education and treatments that are geared towards mitigating the health disparities linked to the high mortality rate from covid-19. Education and awareness was brought to unreachable, land-locked and hard hit communities in different parts of Louisiana. Braveheart Foundation founded the “Krewe Of Vax” Vaccination Parade. The vision for the “vaccination parade” campaign was to promote equitable widespread dissemination of the covid-19 vaccine to help mitigate the rapid transmission of the virus in vulnerable populations. Erica has also worked on the frontlines in Intensive Care Units with the New York City Health and Hospital Corporation while using her expertise in covid-19 mitigation to serve as one the hospital corporation’s covid-19 vaccine ambassadors. Erica and other frontline and military workers were recognized for heroism during the pandemic by the President and Dr. Biden at the annual White House Fourth of July celebration.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Ida(2021), Braveheart immediately put boots on the ground to help with relief efforts in hardest hit areas, one of which is Erica’s home town of Laplace, Louisiana. The team partnered with local government and facilitated a “Catastrophe Can’t Stop Us” drive-through event distributing much needed household items, hot meals, free wifi, and governmental disaster resources while offering encouragement for hope and a dignified recovery as residents started to rebuild their homes and lives. During this time, programming was curated to protect the devastated areas environmental health and economic sustainability. Braveheart partnered with Councilwoman Tyra Duhe Griffin leading a “Clean Sweep” initiative that resulted in 240 tons of trash collected in St. John Parish. Other initiatives such as economic stimulus payments that prioritized the elderly and disabled residents. The initiatives garnered much success which led to a “catastrophe can’t stop us” tour where Braveheart facilitated more mass distributions and donations throughout the devastated areas in southeast Louisiana.
Erica is recipient of the 2019 “Millennial Healthcare Award” presented by The Spears Group and New Orleans Business Alliance, “The 2019 Champion for Change Award” presented by the Crescent City Links, “The 2019 Great 100 Nurse of Louisiana Honoree”, and an appointed subcommittee member on Governor John Bel Edwards COVID-19 Health Equity task force providing recommendations for mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in the jails and prison systems throughout Louisiana. Other affiliations are 2019 cohort for “Emerging Philanthropists of New Orleans”, New Leaders Council 2020 cohort fellow, 2021 cohort fellow for New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute and a member of the New Orleans Citizen Diplomacy Council. A proclamation was presented by St. John Parish former Parish President (Natalie Robottom) in January 2020 in recognition of the work of Braveheart Foundation.