Para leer este mensaje en Español, por favor visita:http://eepurl.com/bjJwVnIn celebration of 10 years of service, PASOs is proud to share the fourth in a series of ten stories highlighting our work in South Carolina. We invite you to share your own PASOs story via our Facebook page.
Preparing for a Brighter Future
PASOs originated at Palmetto Health in 2005, and the partnership between the two organizations has continued to develop over the past 10 years. The most recent collaboration is at the Children’s Hospital Outreach Center (CHOC), where Sara Sterne is the nurse manager. Palmetto Health was awarded one of 18 nationwide Quality Training to Improve Performance (QTIP) grants, which allow the center to focus on quality improvement through innovation and technology in pediatrics.
With funding from the QTIP grant and United Way of the Midlands, in partnership with Reach Out and Read, Palmetto Health was able to hire a PASOs Promotora (Community Health Worker) to support Latino patients and their families at the center. In her role as a community health worker, Ilva Vega educates parents on the long-term value of reading with young children. Using the Reach out and Read curriculum, Leyendo Juntos, parents are able to increase their children’s readiness for school.
Vega also helps to identify needs when patients are hesitant to speak to the doctor. She collaborates with the hospital social worker to follow up on issues such as domestic abuse or mental health counseling needs. By building trust and addressing the barriers of language and culture, she also is able to effectively reach Latino families in a way that is more comfortable for them. Palmetto Health calls upon PASOs to help bridge the gap between providers and the community in other initiatives as well.
In addition, with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Center for New Communities and Urban Strategies, PASOs has led a series of lectures to pediatric resident physicians regarding breastfeeding and Latino culture. Sterne believes this work will have anincredibleimpact that extends far beyond the hospital’s walls and even the state line. Some resident physicians are only in South Carolina for a short period, and eventually will move on from Columbia. What they have learned from PASOs will be carried with them into their medical practices and across the country and around the world.
Like PASOs, Sterne understands that Latino families want to be independent and self-sufficient. They have a strong work ethic and sense of family. They often travel to the United States through terrible conditions, looking for a better life. The U.S. continues to be a land of opportunity for all who seek it, and immigrant families have a lot to contribute. This is our future. If we don’t take care of children now, the future is bleak. Sterne sees it as her responsibility to provide quality care today for the Latino families and children who will be the South Carolinians of tomorrow. PASOs is helping her to do just that.
PASOs is a community-based organization whose vision is a healthy South Carolina with a healthy Latino community. PASOs provides education, family support services, organizational capacity building and community leadership development.
