ACTIVITIES

Among the work group’s many ongoing and past activities are:

Monthly Meetings: The group meets on the first Monday of every Month, at 2:00 p.m., at the Sexual Assault Resource Agency (SARA), 1013 Little High St. Charlottesville, VA.

2010 Community Health Promoters Encuentro. In April 2010 Health Promoters from Charlottesville, Nelson County, Richmond, and Harrisonburg gathered for an all day training program “Health Minds, Healthy Bodies” at the Albemarle County Office Building. Click here for pictures and a summary of the event.

2009 Community Health Promoters Training program. The 2009 program, which graduated 12 new health promoters, was held between September and November at the Word of Faith Church, situated in the Hydraulic loop, the area most populated by Charlottesville Latinos. Click here for a Spanish language flyer and class schedule.

Cross Border Networking and Partnering. In June 2009, Nila Saliba, Aaron Miller and Jan Wolfe visited the Health Promoter program in Harrisonburg and met with its director Joyce Sanchez. Jan also met with Karen Bunn from the Richmond Health Promoter program. Groups from Richmond, Harrisonburg, and Charlottesville/Albemarle/Nelson met in July to explore partnering on several initiatives. Click here for a related Nuevas Raíces article.

Community Health Promoters Blood Pressure Screenings. The health promoters who graduated in November 2008 provided seven screenings in March and April 2009 at Latino churches and neighborhoods including Carlton Road Shopping Center, El Mercado, Canaan Church, Townwood Trailer Park, and elsewhere.

2008 Community Health Promoters Training program. Between September and November 2008, the CJHPWG trained twelve Latinos as health promoters in a facility in southern Albemarle County. They received continuing monthly education sessions coordinated by Colombia doctor Ivonne López (RHOP).

March 12, 2009 Forum – Learning from the CJ Health Promoter Model : Speakers included Katie Burke (Planned Parenthood), from the CJ Health Promoter Work Group (CJHPWG), who provided an overview of the group’s initiatives; two health promoters trained by the Work Group, Olga Castillo and Maritza Gomez, who discussed the training they received and the services they are now providing to the community, and Aaron Miller (SARA), a member of the Work Group who talked about her experiences with the model in El Salvador. (Foto: Maritza & Olga at the CJ forum.) To view the power point presentation, click here.

Summary of Program Evaluation by Students. Click here to read an overview of the fall 2008 evaluation of the CJ Health Promoter Training by Latino participants.

PVCC Grant Proposal. The Piedmont Community Collegesubmitted a grant proposal in December 2008 to the Department of Labor that, among other things, would recruit both ESL and GED students, including those identified by the CJ Health Promoter Group, to complete the Lay Health Promoter course as a conduit to receiving formal training through PVCC for an entry-level health care job (e.g., pharmacy tech, certified nursing assistant, health aide).  For more information contact Jan Wolfe at wlfwmn@gmail.com or click here.

Latino Health Survey.  Between October 2007 and February 2008, a qualitative assessment was conducted through both semi-structured door-to-door interviews with eighty Southwood Latino residents and four focus groups with twenty-five Latinos recruited at the Bubbles Laundromat on Carlton Road.  Additionally, six service providers, five Latinas and one Spaniard married to a Mexican, were also surveyed.  The survey aimed to learn what the local Latino community considers as its most important health problems to assist the CJ Health Promoter Working Group design appropriate interventions to respond to them. To view the report of findings, published on March 1, 2008, visit http://www.cj-network.org/cjinitiatives/HealthSurvey.doc

September 15, 2007 – Hispanic Heritage Day at Southwood: The 15th of September is independence day for Central America; Mexico celebrates the holiday on the 16th. The Working Group hosted a Hispanic Heritage Help Fair in Southwood to celebrate diversity and to provide Latinos in Southwood with community resources and opportunities to interact with a variety of local service providers. For more information on the activity visit http://www.cj-network.org/initiatives.html

September 21, 2007 Forum – The Health Promoter Model: Speakers included coordinators of Virginia organizations that have experience training and deploying “promotores”, as well as a Latina who was trained as a health promoter, and an outreach worker who talked about how she would like her agency to use the model with women at the Fluvanna jail. An overview of the forum is at: http://www.cj-network.org/cjplmin/sessions2007.html