Seattle-based community health organization Lifelong fights to remove barriers to health care, housing and food

written by Corinne Whiting

For more than four decades, Seattle-based community health organization Lifelong has been standing up for those facing illness and injustice. They do this by helping folks find access to health care, lifesaving medicines, stable housing and nutritious food. What began as a response to assisting those living with HIV has since expanded to also address the broader needs of individuals navigating other complex and chronic illnesses. Today they continue to fight for marginalized communities with renewed purpose, holding on to the fervent belief that every human deserves the chance to live their healthiest life possible—without battling stigma, judgment or isolation.

Last July, James Shackelford took over as the chief executive officer of Lifelong. He leads their mission to make health and food accessible and oversees the agency’s programs, including aging and disability, HIV care and prevention, housing, and food and nutrition. He brings with him a personal story that connects him to such work—plus twenty-five years of nonprofit, corporate and consulting experience.

Before joining Lifelong, Shackelford held global roles at amfAR: The Foundation for AIDS Research and Aon. In 2010, at the age of 28, he founded a consulting firm named after his great-grandmother (which he exited in 2021), that supported the growth and awareness of huge brands like Walmart, UNICEF, Be the Match, AT&T and Westinghouse.

Shackelford’s pull toward mission-related work began in high school, through statewide service with Key Club (part of Kiwanis). Throughout his career, he’s always served on nonprofit boards, too—nineteen total, in fact. He currently serves on the advisory board of the Food is Medicine Coalition and the Seattle Pride advisory board, and the board of directors of the Haitian Global Health Alliance and the Town Hall Theater in New York City.

A New Mission in Seattle

Since arriving last summer, Shackelford has yet to experience the alleged “Seattle freeze,” having already connected with likeminded folks at local galleries and dinner parties. This is his third time starting afresh in a brand-new city, and he sounds up for the challenge. He’s finding many of the things he liked most about NYC here in Seattle. And with a Belltown address, waterfront walks with his 1½-year-old goldendoodle, Charlie, quickly have become a surprise highlight.

Landing in Seattle at Lifelong has felt like the perfect culmination of his life and work thus far.

As an out gay man who grew up with a single, lesbian mother in the heart of the AIDS epidemic, Shackelford knows what it’s like to feel terrified of HIV—talking about it, getting tested for it and so on.

As a kid, Shackelford felt incredibly lucky to still have a great-grandmother around. hen he was 10 years old, he watched her go through breast cancer (even accompanying her to treatments), and later a stepmother who dealt with the same disease. When he was 21, one grandmother passed away from COP. More recently, he watched a grandmother suffer from leukemia and Alzheimer’s.

These life experiences led him to always consider people’s access to health and to food.

“Those memories are so vivid for me,” he said, adding his belief that access should never be based upon whether someone can afford it or not.

The storied legacy of Lifelong really spoke to him, yet he’s excited to try to rearrange this mission in a new way, too. “I love the history and roots of the organization in HIV,” he said, which he hopes to use as a solid foundation that can expand toward other focuses as well.

Over the decades, the organization has broadened its mission to address the needs of individuals facing complex and chronic illnesses such as diabetes, kidney disease, plus aging and disability. This extension beyond solely those diagnosed with AIDS truly began nearly fifteen years ago with the inception of Lifelong’s Chicken Soup Brigade, which they’re now bringing back to life with a rebrand. Chicken Soup Brigade was founded in 1983 and is an original organization—one of three that merged to make Lifelong.

The Chicken Soup Brigade

This service provides something called “medically tailored” meals and healthy groceries for clients who are living with life-challenging illnesses. “This means, we support people’s overall health by focusing on the importance of nutrition as part of someone’s care,” said Executive Chef Lauren Daniel of Lifelong’s Chicken Soup Brigade. She explained the Chicken Soup Brigade was founded in 1983 during the early days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and was a grassroots volunteer effort delivering meals and support to those affected.

Many Chicken Soup Brigade clients are homebound. “Our goal is to increase food security among the city’s most vulnerable neighbors and support the long-term health of individuals who are disproportionately impacted by nutrition-related diseases,” Daniel said. In talking to delivery drivers, Shackelford has learned they can be the only person some clients see throughout their day. Not only are clients excited to open their door for this connection, but these deliveries might serve as a weekly check-in from someone who cares.

A graduate of Johnson & Wales University, Daniel has now been in her Lifelong role for three years. She started her culinary career with Hyatt Hotels and has taught culinary arts at Le Cordon Bleu and the Art Institute of Seattle. She also managed retail dining operations on the University of Washington campus and worked with a local food service company supporting the Alaska fishing industry.

Daniel was excited when she first saw the opportunity to join this cause, as she’d been seeking an opportunity to give back to her community. “The Chicken Soup Brigade’s legacy and mission of supporting people’s health through access to nutritious food deeply resonated with me,” she said.

For clients, these medically tailored meals can reduce the symptoms and daily impact of many illnesses, minimize medication side effects and provide comfort when needed most, Daniel explained. “We work hard to ensure our meals contain a balance of nutrients including vegetables, grains, lean proteins and healthy fats,” she said.

Their Registered Dietitian Nutritionists ensure the meals meet their nutritional guidelines and standards and are specialized appropriately to client health conditions. For instance, they offer a menu specifically for clients on dialysis. “Additionally, we are the first and only Food is Medicine Coalition-accredited agency in Washington state,” Daniel said, “demonstrating that our medically tailored meals meet the needs of clients living with severe, complex or chronic health conditions.”

In 2025 alone, the Chicken Soup Brigade delivered more than 155,000 medically tailored meals and nearly 26,000 healthy grocery bags to the doorsteps of 1,400 community members living in King, Snohomish, Pierce, Yakima, Spokane and Island counties.

Their menu is informed by their nutritional standards plus client input, which gets reviewed regularly. “We make menu changes based on client feedback as well as regular menu tastings and offer a special holiday menu annually,” Daniel said. “We strive to balance keeping ‘crowd pleasing’ items on the menu while adding variety and seasonality where possible.” A couple of menu items they’re excited about this spring include their barley vegetable risotto and baked pollock with spinach and pesto sauce.

Looking Down the Road

Lifelong continues to learn how to evolve with the times. The organization does rely on government funding and contracts, which they are intentionally working to strategically diversify and strengthen their resiliency. Yet Shackelford views this as a challenge to reassess where nonprofits stand today, and to enhance advocacy and policy. He feels it’s part of his role to get back to their mission of improving access to health and food. At the same time, increased philanthropy is a funding strategy to ensure they can provide access and not rely on government funding. “We’re trying to think innovatively and how we can make it another forty-four years” he said.

A big part of it is the mindset honoring what they do and paying attention to how they help clients, while raising money and thinking boldly and creatively at the same time. “Reimagining feels imperative,” he admitted.

“How can we mobilize the community?” Shackelford asked. For one, they’ll host their inaugural Pride celebration June 13 in addition to continuing their annual Gay Bingo, which has been running for two decades. Many other fun plans are in the works.

Folks are encouraged to visit Lifelong’s events page to learn about upcoming community and fundraising happenings. Shackelford and his team welcome anyone interested to read up on the organization’s work and to sign up for newsletters, so they too can “join the fight.” With any kind of luck, they’ll be making a nourishing mark on the lives of community members for many more decades to come.

For more information, visit www.lifelong.org