SEAHEC Receives Funding from Pima County Health Department to Improve Migrant Health Services

On October 5th, SEAHEC will launch a new program, in partnership with Casa Alitas/Catholic Community Services of Tucson, with funding from the Pima County Health Department.  CHAMPS – SEAHEC’s Casa Alitas Migrant Health Program will provide culturally respectful and linguistically appropriate health services to migrants, building a cadre of volunteer healthcare providers and expanding our deployment of community health workers, including those that speak Spanish, Portuguese, and other languages frequently spoken by Alitas guests.  Through this program, access to health services and health information will be increased, with a focus on COVID 19 and other infectious diseases.

 

Susana Gastelum and Ycied Talavera are leading the way as the SEAHEC CHAMPS Program Coordinator and Community Health Worker (CHW) supervisor respectively.  While Susana oversees the establishment of a team of clinical volunteers, Ycied oversees the CHW team providing health education and outreach for migrants, assuring that they travel safely and in a healthful manner from Tucson to their destination communities.  

 

“Health should be a basic right for all people in the world, the intent of the CHAMPS program is just that,… providing guests a healthy beginning to their rigorous journey in the United States. Providing this acute care and helping guests obtain basic triage could make all the difference in their overall well-being.”- Ycied Talavera

 

The cornerstone of CHAMPS is our team of CHWs who work one-on-one with migrant families, helping them access up-to-date health information, and resources needed.  SEAHEC is grateful for this funding and looks forward to our expanded services to improve health in Tucson and around our nation.

 

“Casa Alitas welcomed almost 9k guests in August, with these high numbers it is more than needed to have medical services available to ensure that people are traveling safely to reunite with their families. CHAMPS attempts to be the first approach for immigrants with the Healthcare System of the US and provide not only medical but educational resources to improve health & quality of life in the families new beginning.”- Susana Gastelum

 

Casa Alitas Mural “Todos Somos Iguales”, “we are all equal”.

 

 

SEAHEC Healthcare Coordinator Susana Gastelum ready to help  attend patients in Casa Alitas.

 

 

 

CHAMPS will have over the counter medication for Casa Alitas guests.

 

 

CHAMPS Coordinator Susana will work alongside volunteers to provide