Connections: That's How CASA Gets Results

This is how health promoters like Dolores and Elsa make a difference, they make connections.

The world we live in is full of complex health systems that can be difficult for anyone to navigate on their own. Printing bi-lingual pamphlets or posting information on social media is not enough.

CASA Community members like Porfiria Flores and Sara Mijango, immigrant women who are not very familiar with our complex health system, face many obstacles when trying to receive critical care that they need and qualify for.

Porfiria was eligible for Medicare. Sara and her son qualified for health insurance. And in both cases, neither Porfiria nor Sara knew how to access the care that they needed. But they knew where to start.

Porfiria and Sara turned to CASA, a HIF Nonprofit Capacity Building Grant recipient, for help. Porfiria had recently turned 65 and turned to CASA for help applying for retirement. CASA’s community health promoters worked with Porfiria, explained Medicare and how it worked and enrolled her. For Sara and her son, CASA community health promoters helped explore their options and enrolled them both into SNAP and a health care plan through the exchange that worked for Sara's situation and budget.

CASA is proud to be able to connect people in need with existing community resources across the county. Programs like CASAs Community Health Promoters ensure that individuals like Porfiria and Sara can get support through trusted community leaders that are trained and empowered to connect them with health resources and service referrals.

Community promoters like Dolores Fontalvo and Elsa Vargas, whose hard work and dedication have been profiled in NPR’s Morning Edition and Maryland Matters, connect their community with health programs through service referrals, raise awareness on issues like breast cancer and HIV, and ensure that individuals like Porfiria and Sara can navigate the county’s resources. This is how health promoters like Dolores and Elsa make a difference, they make connections.

And that’s why CASA’s health program gets results; we focus on community models that work.

In solidarity,
Gustavo Torres, Executive Director, CASA