During its 16 years, the Sussex County Health Coalition has worked to address complex health issues and find solutions to the county’s most pressing challenges.

SCHC led a grant application process to offer economic and professional development and formal accreditation for the Community Health Worker (CHW) field in Delaware. The coalition has received $3 million from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to begin a program to certify about 200 CHWs for Sussex and Kent counties.

According to the American Public Health Association, a CHW is a “frontline public health worker who is a trusted member of and/or has an unusually close understanding of the community served.” Sussex County’s growing Latino population needs bilingual and Latino CHWs who can connect and communicate. CHWs with familiarity and respect for the community can forge bonds and address health issues.

“We are blessed to have gotten this $3 million grant from HRSA. The goal of the grant is to set up an infrastructure around professionalizing the occupation of community health worker,” said Peggy Geisler, SCHC executive director. “In the past, we’ve heard about ambassadors, navigators, promotores, doulas, you name it. There are several titles that are really at the intersection of what I call mediation between a person’s health care and their understanding of that healthcare.

Financial aid

“There could be a whole cornucopia of problems that someone who has a disability or who’s elderly or [has] a language issue or is just poor needs extra help navigating,” Geisler said.

Under the grant, workers can enter the healthcare industry and receive financial aid during training and internship. This initiative will ensure placement in the region’s healthcare systems and community-based organizations in dire need of state-certified CHWs.

“We didn’t want to set up a program where we said to people, ‘Oh, it’s really great you want to upskill and join us, but you must go hungry while you’re training and doing your apprenticeship program.’ We will pay while we train,” Geisler added.

Recognizing the significance of Sussex County’s Latino community, the coalition has made training Latino/bilingual CHWs one of the program’s primary goals.

“The Latino population is one of the more vulnerable. First, many come in as immigrants and seek to overcome language barriers, financial hurdles, housing difficulties, etc.,” Geisler said. “In that close-knit community, one of the ways that trust can be built is by people who are already established here, who look and speak like the country they have come from.”

Collaboration

The coalition relies heavily on collaboration with diverse members who use resources to solve community health problems.

“We have amazing partners. One thing Sussex County does well is work together. With so few resources, we’ve had to learn to collaborate,” Geisler said. By focusing resources on a common goal, services can be coordinated and help the community on a larger scale. SCHC is partnering with La Esperanza Inc. and other local organizations to recruit multilingual CHWs across the county.

To promote health equality, social justice and well-being for the most vulnerable communities, SCHC is working closely with the Community Health Workers Association of Delaware, which started a CHW registry after developing a survey to learn the number of CHWs in the state.

Consider taking the survey if you are a CHW. Share it with colleagues to assist the Community Health Workers Association of Delaware.

CHW registry link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Delaware_CHW_Workforce.