Helping with Healthcare leads to expanding roles for Communities United
Communidades Unidas, or Communities United (CU), started in Midvale about 12 years ago with an emphasis on helping immigrants navigate the U.S. healthcare system. To facilitate healthcare access, they were able to get offices to stay open later and provide interpreters, as well as pamphlets in Spanish.
It became clear that “we needed to do more in dispelling stereotypes and myths, not just with healthcare providers,” said Rose Maizner, Development Director for CU, but also with the mainstream population.
They expanded their role to reach out to the community. Among their programs are Democracy Schools in Utah, which according to their web site, the CU is “pioneering in Utah,” and the Enriching Utah Coalition, which was created as “a platform for groups to come together to advocate for and protect the rights of immigrants,” stated Rose.
Communidades Unidas is also the Welcoming Utah affiliate of Welcoming America. As stated on their web site, Welcoming America’s goal “is to create a welcoming atmosphere – community by community – in which immigrants are more likely to integrate into the social fabric of their adopted hometowns.” Even with current budgeting issues, “this is work that has to start happening now,” said Rose.
The issues of integration and healthcare are intertwined. As immigrants learn about the rights they have, they are better able to utilize the healthcare system.
This article originally appeared at examiner.com. Links updated Feb. 2017.
It became clear that “we needed to do more in dispelling stereotypes and myths, not just with healthcare providers,” said Rose Maizner, Development Director for CU, but also with the mainstream population.
They expanded their role to reach out to the community. Among their programs are Democracy Schools in Utah, which according to their web site, the CU is “pioneering in Utah,” and the Enriching Utah Coalition, which was created as “a platform for groups to come together to advocate for and protect the rights of immigrants,” stated Rose.
Communidades Unidas is also the Welcoming Utah affiliate of Welcoming America. As stated on their web site, Welcoming America’s goal “is to create a welcoming atmosphere – community by community – in which immigrants are more likely to integrate into the social fabric of their adopted hometowns.” Even with current budgeting issues, “this is work that has to start happening now,” said Rose.
The issues of integration and healthcare are intertwined. As immigrants learn about the rights they have, they are better able to utilize the healthcare system.
This article originally appeared at examiner.com. Links updated Feb. 2017.