March/04/21
SPEAKERS :
Hilda L.Solis
Firstdistrict@bos.lacounty.gov
Hilda L. Solis is a lifelong resident of the San Gabriel Valley. A graduate of Cal Poly Pomona and USC, Supervisor Solis has served on the Rio Hondo Community College Board, in the State Assembly and State Senate, and in the House of Representatives. Prior to becoming Supervisor, Hilda L. Solis served as Secretary of Labor under President Obama, the first Latina to ever serve in the Presidential Cabinet. Today, Supervisor Solis serves as Chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and represents the San Gabriel Valley, Northeast, Southeast, and East LA as Los Angeles
County Supervisor for the First District.
Dr. Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd | media@ph.lacounty.gov
Dr. Barbara Ferrer is the Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Most recently, Dr. Ferrer served as the Chief Strategy Officer for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Prior to working for the Foundation, Dr. Ferrer was the Executive Director of the Boston Public Health Commission. Dr. Ferrer also held various leadership positions at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Dr. Ferrer received her Ph.D. in Social Welfare from Brandeis University, a Master of Arts in Public Health from Boston University, and a Master of Arts in Education from the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
Jazmin Flores
jflores@elawc.org
Jazmin Flores began her work as a promotora with the East Los Angeles Women’s Center in 2015 when she participated in the Promotoras Contra la Violencia training. Six years and countless volunteer hours later, Jazmin is now a lead promotora and education specialist in Boyle Heights and Lincoln Heights. Jazmin has worked tirelessly to recruit and train other women to become volunteers and advocates. Her work has been recognized by Mayor Eric Garcetti, Supervisor Hilda Solis and Council Member Gil Cedillo. Jazmin has been married for 23 years, has three sons and has been a resident of Lincoln Heights for over 20 years.
Hilda Solis:
There is hope in the Horizon. She with her team are finally seeing a steady decrease in Covid 19 cases, deaths as well as hospitalizations. This progress is attributed to their collective efforts of following the Health Officer Order: practicing social distancing, wearing masks, avoiding gatherings ( not attending large gatherings). All of that helped to provide to lower the rates of Covid 19 spread.
Thanks to doctors, scientists and to all people who have been helping them in the Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson vaccine which now will help to provide a better timeline to put an end to the pandemic.
Today the County Department Of Public Health has mentioned that 2.2 million people being vaccinated so far in the county. This number is inspiring. Hilda Solis and its program are making sure that the vulnerable people are receiving their doses of help.
The vaccination rates in Latin and black community remain dangerously low.
So the County Department of public health in partnership with this curative team, is cooperating with them together to improve access for residents in their places, bringing the vaccine to their places, bring vaccine clinics to where the residents live. This is a gold mechanism to use to move forward.
They also launched a bigger partnership with Saint John Well Child And Family Center. A new vaccination site.
They launched a women center that reaches out the most impacted women affected by sexual assault, provides counseling to them, and now it helps also people affected by the pandamic.
They launched a program named Promotores PROGRAM, created in response to covid 19. LA County allocated 30 millions Dollars to the creation of this program: Hiring community health workers, providing education and resources. This program works with 16 Agencies. These 16 agencies are part of the network. This program lifted up the incredible work of the community.
The mission of this program is to reach communities wherever they are. Its mission is to connect people with the right informations, and the right resources. Its mission is to bridge the Gap and to build that trust between Government LA County, their services and the people.
Their health workers distribute face Masks and Hand Sanitizers as well.
Jasmin Flores ( lead Promotoras Program)
They launched the PROMOTORAS PROGRAM. The purpose of Promotoras is to educate and bring to the communities most impacted by this pandamic.
They are able to reach the most isolated, industry workers, business owners, street vendors and those most vulnerable. How?
By providing informations on how they can help stop the spread of Covid 19 by giving them small steps to follow, also how to have access to the Covid-19 test and vaccine.
It is an initiative. The initiative that the Promotoras are doing is to reach the grocery stores, the shopping centers, restaurants, the gas station in neighborhood and many other places in their community.
Through these places, the Promatoras are reaching out to the underserved community. Not only providing them resources of Covid-19 to the homeless, but providing them informations and letting them know how can they access to food , shelter, and mental health services.
The Department Of Public Health provided this program with 10000 Face Coverings and Hand Sanitizers in order to provide them into the community.
They visit some local businesses, providing them with Covid-19 flyers so they put them on their windows and doors. And they give informations to the business owners on how they can keep the safety, follow the guidelines that the department of health is requiring. And how to take all precautions needed for the safety of their places. And owners are always glad with their services.
Why is this approach necessary?
There are a lot of misleading informations on Covid 19 and the vaccine in the black and latinos community, per example.
There is a lot of fear in these communities when it comes to Covid-19.
They want their communities to have access to services not only regarding Covid-19 but also health, food , legal, and mental health services.
Barriers that they found and encountered in the underserved communities:
-There is a lot of distrust in underserved communities. Members of their communities ( Latinos) want to speak to people that can relate to them.
Out-there is a lack of knowledge in this community, not all the community have access to these services. There is a lack of access to technology.
– Misleading information:
The latinos communities have the fear of Covid 19. They believe it is a lie. It is not real, they think this virus made by the government and the government want to get out of them.
The Accessibility to testing and vaccine sites is a problem because many sites are drive in and don’t allow walk in.
The current efforts of this Program :
Through their community initiative program 70ELAWC promatoras have reached over 25,000 community members providing them education and awareness on Covid-19.
In conclusion, their work has proven that it takes a united community to reach a faster and safer end to the pandemic.
The promatoras provide a friendly reminder to the community and let’s people know that they don’t have to do this alone . They need each and everyone in their community to make this promatoras.
Dr. BARBARA FERRER,
They are seeing decrease in Covid 19 cases, deaths as well as hospitalizations.
Still Variants are still spreading quickly and largely.
Precautions should be taken.
And they are making a Vaccine Strategy.