Partnerships & Programs
Press Release from Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute (HIPHI)
Communities RISE Together Partnership to Support Community-Based Organizations in Local COVID-19 Vaccination Efforts in Over 25 States.
Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute to focus on Education and Equitable Access in Areas of Hawaiʻi that have been hard hit by the pandemic.
Honolulu, HI – In response to inequities in the rate of COVID-19 vaccinations in many communities of color compared to white areas, and with the surge in cases due to the more transmissible Delta variant, Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute (HIPHI) is partnering with Communities RISE Together and local partners Project Vision Hawaiʻi and Kaʻū Rural Health Community Association Inc. (KRHCAI) with a focus on COVID-19 outreach in targeted low-vaccination areas on Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Island.
Communities RISE Together is an initiative funded by the US Department of Health and Human Services to promote vaccinations in Black, Asian-American/Pacific-Islander, Latinx, Native-American, rural, immigrant/migrant and low-income older adult populations in more than 220 counties in over 25 states and territories* with low vaccination rates. Partners WE in the World, which convenes the Well Being In the Nation (WIN) Network, and the Public Health Institute are coordinating and administering this initiative.
The COVID pandemic has revealed and worsened persistent racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic health inequities, with vastly different rates of COVID cases, vaccination rates, and health and life outcomes in communities of color, and evident in Hawaii’s current surge in cases. The Communities RISE Together initiative aims to address these gaps through trusted messengers who are already on the ground and have deep trust in communities.
Over the six month project, some of the activities supported in Hawaiʻi will include:
- Partner with community organizations to provide new and critical information regarding COVID-19 to increase awareness and confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine.
- Support the coordination of vaccination and testing sites in targeted zip codes including promotion of events and recruitment of volunteers and community leaders.
- Utilize Hawaiʻi State Department of Health data as guidance to target outreach efforts.
- Connect residents to community resources to ensure equitable access to information and resources that promote overall health and well-being for all of Hawaii’s people.
In a direct response to COVID-19, HIPHI has made intentional efforts to keep communities safe and informed with rapidly emerging science, including alerting the public when new and crucial information is released. According to Jessica Yamauchi, CEO of HIPHI, “As the impacts of the pandemic evolved over time, tapping into a vast network of connections and expertise was necessary to motivate communities and mobilize resources to hardest hit areas. Collaborating with integral community partners such as Project Vision Hawaiʻi and Kaʻū Rural Health Community Association Inc. will leverage access and resources to residents in hard-to-reach communities.”
For more information on events and volunteer opportunities happening near you or how you can volunteer, please visit these resources:
Other partners in Communities RISE Together include CHROMATIC BLACK, the Center for Popular Democracy, Latino Health Access, the Migrant Clinicians Network, Meals on Wheels America, National Councils on Aging, National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, the Public Health Institute’s Center to Advance Community Health and Equity, and WE in the World/WIN Network.
Follow #CommunitiesRISE on social media to see work as it happens across the country. Find out more about Communities RISE Together and or the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services press release on the Communities RISE award.
____________________________________________________________________________
*The states and territories are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Federated States of Micronesia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
# # #
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Hawai’i COVID-19 3R Team Updates – April 23, 2021
Date: Fri, Apr 23, 2021 at 8:00 PM
Subject: Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Hawai’i COVID-19 3R Team Updates – April 23, 2021
|
NACHW JOINS NATIONAL COVID-19 NETWORK TO BUILD RESILIENCE AGAINST PANDEMIC AND PARTNERS WITH KA’U RURAL HEALTH COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION, INC.
PRESS RELEASE
For media inquiries, contact:
National Association of Community Health Workers (NACHW)
Aurora Grant Wingate
NACHW NCRN Coordinator
agrantwingate@hria.org
NACHW JOINS NATIONAL COVID-19 NETWORK TO BUILD RESILIENCE AGAINST PANDEMIC AND PARTNERS WITH KA’U RURAL HEALTH COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION, INC.
Nearly 40 national partner organizations band together to bring communities culturally appropriate information and health services.
The National Association of Community Health Workers (NACHW) has joined the Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM)’s National COVID-19 Resiliency Network (NCRN) of partners to inform community-driven response, recovery, and resiliency strategies for addressing the impact of COVID-19 on communities.
In response to the needs of communities most impacted by COVID-19, NACHW has partnered with Morehouse to integrate the qualities, roles and expertise of Community Health Workers (CHWs, including Promotoras de Salud and Community Health Representatives) to improve the cultural humility and appropriateness of community engagement, education, data collection and information dissemination strategies with communities that experience physical and social vulnerabilities resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. NACHW has been awarded a contract from Morehouse to recruit, hire and support eleven CHW Liaisons who share trusting relationships, lived experience, culture, language and geography with specific priority communities in the NCRN initiative. Liaisons will develop and cultivate partnerships with individuals and organizations in these geographic areas, as they support six national goals in the NCRN initiative.
One of the organizations NACHW has partnered is Ka’u Rural Health Community Association, Inc. Jessanie “Auntie Jessie” Marques, a lifelong CHW and Executive Director of Ka’u Rural Health Community Association, has signed on to support NACHW’s partnership with NCRN as a NACHW COVID-19 Community Engagement Liaison.
“Our partnership with Morehouse provides a unique opportunity for NACHW to amplify CHWs as equity leaders, community partners and skilled providers who can increase access to COVID-19 education, testing, contact tracing, health and psychosocial services and vaccines for communities who experience historic and systemic barriers,” says NACHW Executive Director, Denise Octavia Smith, MBA, CHW, PN.
The launch of the NCRN occurs alongside the release of new digital technology accessible through the NCRN website. It provides location-based recommendations on where community members can get a COVID-19 test, fill prescriptions and get a COVID-19 vaccine when distribution increases in the coming months.
“Our national network connects individuals, families, community organizations and clinical providers to timely and relevant COVID-19 information and services in their neighborhood,” says Dominic Mack, MD, MBA, Professor of Family Medicine and Co-Director of the National COVID-19 Resiliency Network in the National Center for Primary Care at MSM.
The NCRN launch follows a $40 million award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health to coordinate a strategic network focused on delivering COVID-19-related information to communities hardest hit by the pandemic.
To access new COVID-19 resources, visit www.msm.edu/ncrn.
About the National Association of Community Health Workers
The National Association of Community Health Workers (NACHW) strives to unify the voices of the community health workers and strengthen the profession’s capacity to promote healthy communities through our six key values of self-empowerment, self-determination, social justice and equity, unity, integrity, and dignity and respect. Community Health Workers (CHWs), also known as promotoras de salud, Community Health Representatives, Outreach Specialist, Peers, etc, are frontline public health workers who are trusted members of and/or have an unusually close understanding of the community served. This trusting relationship enables CHWs to serve as a liaison/link/intermediary between health/social services and the community to facilitate access to services and improve the quality and cultural competence of service delivery. CHWs also build individual and community capacity by increasing health knowledge and self-sufficiency through a range of activities such as outreach, community education, informal counseling, social support and advocacy. Visit our website to learn more and to join our membership.
About Morehouse School of Medicine
Morehouse School of Medicine, located in Atlanta, GA, exists to improve the health and well-being of individuals and communities; increase the diversity of the health professional and scientific workforce; and address primary health care through programs in education, research, and service, with emphasis on people of color and the underserved urban and rural populations in Georgia, the nation, and the world. MSM is among the nation’s leading educators of primary care physicians and has twice been recognized as the top institution among U.S. medical schools for its dedication to the social mission of education. The faculty and alumni are noted in their fields for excellence in teaching, research, and public policy, and are known in the community for exceptional, culturally appropriate patient care. Morehouse School of Medicine is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award doctorate and master’s degrees.
Aloha Connects Innovation (ACI)
From: Pono Shim <pshim@oedb.biz>
Date: September 20, 2020 at 10:30:10 AM HST
 |
| Aloha mai kakou, For the past 3 months we (Economic Development Alliance of Hawaii, skilled consultants, and program designer Omar Sultan) have been working on a program to work with the State of Hawaii to use Cares Act Funding to assist displaced workers or individuals who have been significantly affected financially by COVID 19. This past week with the signing of the contract the Governor issued the Press Release with the Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism. The State’s program funding will help 350 participants to be placed in Host Companies who have the ability and need to host, train, and support a couple of participants in their organizations thru a paid internship thru December 15th. We know that we cannot help the thousands of individuals suffering thru the pandemic and that there are more businesses that would like to participate then we can onboard. However, we strongly recommend and hope that you will register as either a “Participant” or “Host Company” (if you can support a couple of interns and are aligned with the objectives/compliance of the program). Please visit www.edahawaii.org and click on Aloha Connects Innovation “learn more” tab. When you enter the page please select either Participant or Host Company based on your interest and review the information. When you get to the bottom of the page you can select “learn more” to be a Participant (you can register there) or if you’re desiring to be a Host Company you can select “register”. We should be following up with you within the week. To reiterate we know we cannot assist all (including companies who would like to Host participants) in being placed in ACI but please don’t be discouraged. If more funding is released thru Congress and subsequently our local Government we believe that we have designed infrastructure for more funding to be invested to help more people discover new career opportunities and skills for their future thru ACI. To that point we would love the opportunity to train/prepare displaced workers to position themselves for these types of opportunities regardless if they get placed or not. In a partnership with Microsoft and my Higher Skills Academy training we have opened up training that we begin every 2 weeks for free. We also know that thru these trainings we are opening relationships with ourselves with the hope that these relationships can be helpful to your future. If this is of value to you please register here: Friday, October 2, 2020 10:00 AM Hawaii – Higher Skills Academy https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqf-GhpjgpE9AyISQQ8hakSCr4YqU2-gLG After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Another free training (thru the end of the 2020 year) you can immediately register thru the Hawaii Technology Development Corporation website https://www.htdc.org/workforce-recovery-initiative-by-coursera/ for over 3800 courses thru the Coursera online learning platform. If the menu options are too vast and you don’t know where to begin or choose and would like assistance in considering career opportunities and what pathway you might consider we are hosting a free “Choosing a Path” webinar on September 28 at noon please register here: Monday, September 28, 2020 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Hawaii – “Choosing a Path” Webinar https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIsdeqqpz4oH9zFR5PZobyQXJd5umUeaSl9 After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Please feel free to share this message with others. Mahalo nui loa, Pono Pono Shim Oahu Economic Development Board Additional Higher Skills Academy registration dates will be posted on the OEDB websiteat www.oedb.biz as the information becomes available. |
Business Planning for Non-Profits – A FREE One Day Event at Alu Like, Inc. Office in Hilo
To assist the communities we serve, Hiilei Aloha, LLC and Alu Like, Inc. are collaborating to bring Business Planning for Non-Profits in Hilo. This FREE one day event will occur on March 4, 2015 from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon. Seating is limited to 15 people. Registration forms need to be received before/on March 2, 2015.
Click on the links for more information or to print and submit your registration. 
FREE Capacity Building & Leadership Development Workshop
Ka’u Rural Health Community Association, Inc. is coordinating with Hi’ilei Aloha, LLC to deliver workshops to support and strengthen nonprofit organizations in the areas of leadership development, board governance, strategic planning and fund development.
Hi’ilei Aloha is pleased to announce, that it received a grant award from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to implement a comprehensive capacity building and leadership development program to strengthen nonprofit organizations in rural Communities.
Space is limited! Workshops are held Saturday’s and Sunday’s in February including March 1, 2015. Please view the flyer for additional information.
Ka'u Rural Health Community Association, Inc. 