Nonprofit Healthcare · Case Study
A Mercedes Sprinter 170 Extended High Roof built to bring confidential HIV, STI, and Hepatitis C testing directly to underserved Union County communities.
MercedesThe Brief
PROCEED, Inc. is an Elizabeth, New Jersey nonprofit serving underserved communities with health, family, and prevention services. Their HIV, STI, and Hepatitis C testing program faces a real obstacle: stigma, transportation, and clinic-access barriers keep many of the people who most need testing from ever walking into a fixed location. Their answer was to remove the building from the equation — if you cannot come to us, we will come to you.
PROCEED came to Sequoia + Salt with a clear brief — a Mercedes Sprinter 170 Extended High Roof, converted into a clinical-grade mobile testing environment. Confidential. Comfortable. Dignified. A place where someone could sit down for ten minutes, get tested, and walk back into their day. Delivered in 2025, the build landed in the $200K–$275K range for a fully integrated commercial unit.
The Testing Environment
The interior is finished in clean white panels and a wipe-down floor — a clinical surface set, not a campervan cabin. Swivel seating and a fold-away jump seat give a tester and a client a private place to sit across from one another, while ceiling-mounted monitors carry intake information and educational material without crowding the space.
Every surface was chosen for the reality of the work: easy to sanitize, durable under daily use, and quiet enough that a ten-minute appointment feels unhurried. The layout keeps the testing seat clear of the door, so a client always has a defined, private space the moment they step inside.
Sanitation & Sample Handling
A stainless hand-washing sink with its own fresh and grey-water plumbing sits at the heart of the build — running water on board means proper hygiene between every client, with no dependence on the site the van parks at. Under-cabinet lighting and baltic-birch casework keep the station bright and serviceable.
A fully enclosed wet bath with a cassette toilet and a fold-down shower bench gives staff a private, self-contained facility for a full day in the field. It is the difference between a vehicle that can work a single appointment and one that can run an entire community outreach shift.
Power & Off-Grid Capability
A LiFePO4 lithium battery bank, inverter, and charge controllers run the entire unit — lighting, climate, water, refrigeration, and the testing equipment — with no generator and no shore-power dependency. The system recovers from the alternator while driving and from solar while parked, so the van can hold a remote location for a full outreach day.
The electrical core lives on a baltic-birch service wall at the rear, wired clean and accessible. Every component is industry-standard and field-serviceable — no proprietary black box, no vendor lock-in. When a system needs attention five years from now, any qualified tech can open the doors and work on it.
Gear & Storage
Floor-to-ceiling cabinetry and a rear gear garage carry the supplies, kits, and outreach materials a testing day demands — secured for transit, fast to access on site. A track-wall system with soft storage bags keeps frequently used gear within reach and reconfigurable as the program's needs change.
The casework is baltic-birch throughout, finished in clinical white. It reads as orderly and calm from the client seat, and works as a stockroom from the staff side — the same cabinet doing both jobs at once.
Exterior
The build was delivered as a graphite-grey Sprinter 170 Extended High Roof — deliberately unmarked. For a service built around confidentiality, a vehicle that doesn't announce its purpose on the street is a feature, not an oversight. PROCEED wrapped the exterior with their own branding after delivery; these build-delivery photos show the van in plain grey.
Exterior hardware was specced for daily field use: a deployable powered side step for easy, dignified entry, and protected vent and door hardware that holds up to constant in-and-out across a community outreach schedule.
The Outcome
The van now operates across Union County and surrounding New Jersey communities, bringing free, confidential HIV, STI, and Hepatitis C testing directly to the people who need it. The barriers that kept clients away from a fixed clinic — distance, transportation, stigma — fall away when the clinic pulls up to the curb with its doors open.
