Kerry's Kids was established to carry on the dream of Dr. Kerry Spooner Dean after her life tragically came to an end in May 1998. Kerry's dream was to help organize a mobile health clinic to serve indigent children and their families in the San Francisco Bay Area. She realized that many children never made it to clinics and hospitals due to lack of health insurance, institutional obstacles, a parent’s fear of reprisal or losing their kids, language barriers, and transportation difficulties. Kerry understood that in order to provide adequate health care, health screening, immunizations and health education to these children, it was essential to bring medical services directly to the children and their families in the communities where they lived. It was this realization that drove Kerry to follow her dream of organizing a pediatric mobile health clinic.

Both during and after her pediatric residency at Children's Hospital Oakland, Dr. Kerry Spooner Dean committed herself to volunteer efforts to help children and families who were homeless or had other difficulties accessing health care services in the community. Kerry met with health workers and officials in city and county health services agencies, offered her services as a physician, and volunteered to help coordinate the efforts of other health care providers. Through Kerry’s efforts with Oakland Head Start, this Oakland city agency provided an equipped medical van. Dr. Kerry Spooner Dean and other Children's Hospital Oakland pediatric residents used this medical van to regularly visit several homeless family shelters in the Alameda County area to serve as mobile health care providers. Thus began the realization of her dream to organize a mobile health clinic to serve indigent children and their families in the community.

Following residency, Kerry continued her volunteer community service, working to staff the mobile medical clinic with physicians and nurses from Children's Hospital Oakland as well as other volunteers who were both sensitive to the needs of this unique patient population and equipped with the knowledge and training to help make a positive difference in their lives.

Tragically, in May 1998, Kerry's life came to an end. But her dream and the profound contributions that she was making in the community inspired the creation of Kerry’s Kids. Kerry’s Kids is committed to bringing free health care and education services to underserved children in their neighborhoods.