- April 17, 2026
Daytona Beach leaders and leaders of the Islamic Center cut the ribbon celebrating the Hope Community Health Center. Photo by Sierra Williams
The new free clinic will be open on Saturday and Sunday by appointment. Photo by Sierra Williams
The Hope Community Health Center is a new free clinic in Daytona Beach. Photo by Sierra Williams
Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry and Volusia County Councilman Matt Reinhart attended the free clinic grand opening. Photo by Sierra Williams
Dr. Rehana Siddiqui is the director of the new Health Center. Photo by Sierra Williams
Daytona Beach’s new free clinic is open for business, at 825 Derbyshire Road.
The Hope Community Health Center will fill a gap in the health care services in Daytona Beach, co-director Dr. Aman Malik said. The Islamic Center of Daytona Beach has provided the building for the Health Center’s use, but it will operate separately from the Islamic Center.
Dr. Rehana Saddiqui and Malik will be the co-directors of the clinic, which will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays for primary care services, by appointment only. At the March 27 ribbon cutting, Malik said the goal of the health center is to provide accessible preventive care.
“We all know there are hard working people around us who fall into a difficult gap,” she said. “They may not qualify for public assistance, yet they cannot afford private insurance or regular medical care. Many delay seeking help until their condition worsens.”
Florida free clinics are limited by state statute to only provide care to qualifying patients, such as the uninsured and those whose income is below the poverty line. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, almost 11% of Volusia County residents live in poverty.
The Hope Community Health Center is one of a few free clinics available in Volusia County and the surrounding areas. Flagler County’s own Flagler Free Clinic treats uninsured or underinsured members of the community.
When Flagler Free Clinic Executive Director Terri Belletto first joined the team 12 years ago, the clinic was only open two Saturdays a month. Patients, she said, were “chronically, seriously ill.”
“The biggest shock to me when I came to the free clinic environment was how sick people are,” she said. “I didn’t anticipate that.”
The Flagler Free Clinic treated 1,800 unique patients in 2025, providing over 6,000 care visits. The clinic is open Monday through Thursday and provides not only primary care but specialist care as well, including eye care, podiatry, oncology, dental services and more.
Belletto said that despite the greater demand, the Flagler Free Clinic does not turn away qualifying patients. With the new Daytona Beach Health Center open, she said patients who live in that area may be referred to the clinic because it is closer, but their clinic does not turn people away.
That is in part because the Flagler clinic does not have any residency or employment requirements. Around 10% of the Flagler clinic’s patients are from Volusia County, Belletto said, and small numbers from surrounding counties.
“People who need health care are desperate for health care, and we’re here to help people access care,” she said. “We just want to help as many people as we possibly can.”
Dr. Mussarat Saddiqui, the husband of Health Clinic Director Dr. Rehana Siddiqui, spearheaded the fundraising for the clinic. He announced at the ribbon cutting that they still are raising funds for the Health Center’s $100,000 endowment funds.
Saddiqui and a colleague have each pledged $25,000 to the fund, getting the endowment halfway to the finish line. The endowment, he said, will be enough to fund the clinic “in perpetuity.”
“Going forward, this is only the beginning,” Saddiqui said. “We will be expanding the services to see the needy people of the community are taken care of, irrespective of religions, caste, colors and language.”
Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry announced at the ribbon cutting that he will ask the city manager and the city commission to appropriate $10,000 from the city to the Health Center for the endowment.
This clinic, he said, is a vital resource to the community.
“I want to say to each of you today,” Henry said, “how grateful we, as a city, are to have you, the Islamic community, taking such great leadership in such a great and important role in our community.”
As word about the Health Center gets out, Belletto said, the team may see their endowment needs increase, too, just to be able to care for the number of patients that come to their door.
“They’re going to be inundated,” Belletto said.
As the need in the community expands, so, too, does the need for volunteer providers and for donors, she said.
Free clinics like Flagler’s and the Health Center survive on grants and donations, Belletto said, as they receive no state funding for operations. The Flagler Free Clinic has an operating budget of around $400,000, 95% goes straight into patient services.
Free clinic services treat a gap in care that most people do not discuss. When people hear the political talk about health care, Belletto said, the focus is on reducing insurance costs. But others, including seniors, can’t afford insurance at all.
“You don’t hear about people that will never be able to afford insurance,” she said. “And there’s a lot of them in our community.”
The need continues to grow. In 2025, the Flagler Free Clinic added 800 new patients. And recently, she said, the clinic broke its internal record, adding almost 70 new patients in January alone, after federal health care subsidies expired.
“Even working people with decent jobs cannot afford their company provided insurance anymore,” Belletto said. “The need just keeps increasing.”
