June 11, 2021
This Immigrant Heritage Month, HCIF would like to highlight the work of our Immigrant Health Literacy Initiative (IHLI) partners. Our IHLI partners serve immigrant, refugee, and limited English proficient clients in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh regions and have worked tirelessly to provide these communities with information and services necessary to stay safe, healthy, and informed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
With funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, HCIF was able to provide additional partner payments to the African Family Health Organization (AFAHO), Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia (CAGP), Global Wordsmiths, Nationalities Service Center (NSC), and Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Association Coalition (SEAMAAC) in support of their ongoing efforts related to communicating about COVID-19 and the vaccine. Below are brief summaries noting how each of our CBO partners will use the additional funding.
AFAHO’s Community Messengers have been instrumental in moving individuals from vaccine hesitancy to vaccine acceptance through in-person peer education and social-media ready video PSAs. AFAHO also plans to promote their vaccine clinics and produce additional education materials for community outreach.
CAGP is expanding their Cambodian COVID-19 Vaccination Response Network which touches over 10,000 members of the Greater Philadelphia Cambodian, Khmer speaking, and Laotian communities. This network supports COVID-19 education and vaccination efforts through in-person, social media, and mailing efforts.
Global Wordsmiths, a Pittsburgh-based social enterprise organization, is translating key COVID-19 vaccine materials and combatting misinformation in immigrant and refugee communities through in-person, telephonic and video remote language interpretation services at sites offering the COVID-19 testing and vaccination.
NSC’s vaccine hotline allows staff to assist immigrant and refugee communities in learning more about COVID-19, where they can access COVID testing and vaccination sites, and assist low English proficient clients in scheduling their vaccine appointments.
SEAMAAC is developing a robust culturally-specific and linguistically-appropriate community education campaign to address vaccine hesitancy in immigrant, refugee, and other marginalized communities. They also plan to educate and connect community members about local COVID testing and vaccination sites hosted by partner organizations across Philadelphia.
These brief summaries are a window into the much larger programs our IHLI partners offer their clients, and only touch on the massive impact these organizations have within their communities. We encourage you to participate in this year’s Immigrant Heritage Month events happening in the Philadelphia region. Click here and learn how you can celebrate Philadelphia’s vibrant immigrant communities throughout the month.