Joshua Williams has been named a 2025 Health Access Hero by Sun Life U.S. and DentaQuest for his efforts to address food insecurity in South Florida. The award, which comes with a $10,000 donation to a charity of the recipient’s choice, recognizes individuals who work to improve health access in their communities.
Williams was nominated for his nearly twenty years of service supporting underserved populations in South Florida. He founded Joshua's Heart Foundation (JHF) at age four and has since led more than 60,000 youth volunteers in fighting hunger and poverty. JHF reports having served over 800,000 people and distributed more than eight million pounds of food and hygiene items. In the past year alone, the organization helped over 40,000 individuals.
The foundation’s approach includes not only direct aid but also leadership training for young people and community engagement initiatives aimed at improving health access for low-income, minority, and immigrant families.
"At JHF, we're really concerned about solving anything that you're hungry for, whether it's skills, community, food or something else. Health in general spans not just the physical body, but also friendships, how we take care of each other and how we take care of our community and environment," said Williams. "We are so appreciative of this support, helping us be a conduit for good. For me, health access is very much a lifestyle and being conscious of the decisions you're making for yourself and your community. Health access sounds like a simple phrase, but there is a lot that goes into it, and it definitely touches all points of our life."
David Healy, president of Sun Life U.S., commented on Williams’ recognition: "Sun Life and DentaQuest are committed to broadening access to care through philanthropic initiatives that can have large-scale impact at local levels. By tackling such a critical social determinant of health, Joshua is working to reduce risk factors for chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease while fostering a new generation of community health advocates," he said. "Every year we receive dozens of nominations... And to Joshua, thank you for the opportunity to help make your impact even stronger and move the needle toward ensuring oral healthcare access for all."
The Health Access Hero Awards provide grants both to organizations running innovative health programs as well as individual honorees like Williams. Since its inception, more than $3.5 million in grants have been awarded nationwide through this program.
More information about Joshua Williams’ work with JHF as well as other recipients can be found at https://www.dentaquest.com/en/about-us/health-access-heroes.
DentaQuest manages dental benefits for around 35 million Americans through employer groups as well as government-sponsored programs such as Medicaid and CHIP; it operates approximately 75 dental practices serving underserved communities across the country.
Sun Life Financial Inc., which owns DentaQuest through its U.S.-based dental division Sun Life U.S., provides financial services including insurance solutions globally with assets under management totaling C$1.62 trillion as reported on September 30th, 2025.
Sun Life Financial Inc.'s shares are traded on stock exchanges in Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE), and Manila (PSE) under the symbol SLF.