The Casa Latinos Unidos Team at the 2023 Western Forum for Migrant and Community Health
This article features news and updates from Casa Latinos Unidos, a recipient of an LBLHEA Capacity Building Partner Grant.
With the support of a LBHEA Capacity Building grant, the Casa Latinos Unidos team participated in the 2023 Western Forum for Migrant and Community Health, which took place in Long Beach, California, between February 14th and 16th, 2023. Our organization participated at the conference with the presentation “ENLACES: A Comprehensive Community Health Worker Program”, co-authored by Susan Ibarra, Jessica Rodriguez, Yanci Hernandez, Yesenia Rodriguez, Keiri Lopez, and Ricardo Contreras. Our team gave an overview of the organization’s different programs and projects and discussed how we work with the Latinx community in Benton and Linn Counties in innovative and culturally-appropriate ways.
Yanci Hernandez spoke about the Y-CAN's workforce development program, which we are implementing in partnership with the Willamette Workforce Partnership and the Community Services Consortium; Keiri Lopez shared insights on the Breathing and Imagination program, which uses meditation and art as tools for individual and community well-being; Jessica Rodriguez focused on the crucial role of health promoters in community health, with a particular emphasis on our family empowerment program, while Yesenia Rodriguez stressed the significance of active listening when working with members of the community; and Ricardo Contreras gave an overview of the history and programmatic areas of the organization, while Susan Ibarra gave a summary and final remarks.
Our participation in this conference has provided our team the opportunity to learn from community health workers from California, Oregon, and Washington. Among other things, we learned about the need to address the challenges faced by women working in agriculture, about communication strategies and mental health support best practices, and about the role of art and theater in community outreach. We were particularly impacted by the story of Javier Zamora’s journey from El Savador to the U.S., passing by Guatemala and Mexico, which is represented in this book “Solito: A Memoire”.
Besides learning from others, participating in this conference provided us the opportunity to strengthen the bonds that unite us as a team. We are stronger because of our participation in this conference and for that we are grateful to the support the Linn Benton Health Equity Alliance provided us.