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CareOregon worked closely with community-based organization Familias en Acción as part of the CareOregon Traditional Health Workers Grant Program to help support and grow the organization's community health workers' workforce.

Promotores de Salud or Community Health Workers at Familias are considered part of the Traditional Health Worker workforce and have intimate knowledge and experience in the demographic in which they serve and primarily support Spanish-speaking Latino/x/e families by helping them navigate health services that best fit their needs such COVID-19 support services, family support, food access and more.

Over the past two years in the grant program, Familias has been able to build capacity for work in community health worker services, including developing curriculum to train and support community health workers. As a result, they have also been able to expand direct services to community members and one-on-one family support, as well as provide educational classes.

“I think the foundation of community health work is being from the community and supporting the community,” said Jaeme Miranda, Director of Community Health Workers Services at Familias en Acción.

“And for us, that means folks who speak the language, who are bicultural, who are supporting the needs in the community in Spanish for Latino families by helping them navigate very complex health systems. That's why working with CareOregon to grow our community health workforces has been crucial to our mission to reach as many of our community members as we can who rely on these resources."

Additionally, the partnership helped provide a space to certify community health workers and expand professional development opportunities and workforce development initiatives.

"Investing in workforce development, especially in community health workers like that at Familias, is crucial to ensuring our communities are receiving quality care," said Ifeoma Muoto, Director of Community Health Partnerships - Metro at CareOregon.

"It's been shown that community health workers with their lived experience and deep knowledge of those they serve, are an important bridge between the formal health system and underserved communities, and we've seen the tremendous difference they’ve made."

About Familias en Acción

Familias en Acción (Familias) was founded in 1998, in response to the need for a culturally specific organization to promote health for Latino/x/e communities. The mission of Familias is to strengthen the health and well-being of Latino families and communities in Oregon. Services provided include: Community Health Workers, Community health education, chronic disease self-management classes, and Diabetes Prevention Program, sexual health, nutrition and food equity, and much more.