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Red Cross and the National Association of Community Health Centers Partner to Help Underserved Communities
Marin Rose Graney, Special to RedCross.org
Thursday, July 13, 2006 — In an ongoing effort to enhance its capacity to effectively support the diverse communities it serves, the American Red Cross is partnering with the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), extending its reach and ability to deliver life protecting services.
NACHC, a non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance and expand access to quality, community-responsive health care for America’s medically underserved and uninsured, represents the nation’s network of more than 1,000 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs).
“The Red Cross and NACHC are a natural match for improving health and safety services in underserved communities, which are typically at higher risk than general populations for residential fires, child drowning and lack of proper protection during hurricanes and other disasters,” said Senior Officer of the Red Cross Hispanic Initiative Ana Correa.
Like the Red Cross, which has more than 1,000 chapters and blood collection centers across the country, NACHC has FQHCs located throughout the United States and U.S. territories—5,000 in all including sites in Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam. Both organizations are dedicated to helping people regardless of legal status or income.
“NACHC is happy to be working with the Red Cross,” said NACHC Chief Medical Officer Tom Curtin, MD. “I believe both organizations recognize the real value we have to offer each other and the benefit to the communities we serve. I am hopeful we will see more relationships evolve between community health centers and local Red Cross Chapters.”
One of the initial goals of the partnership is education; specifically, to empower underserved communities by informing members about critical health and safety information and tips, the importance of personal preparedness and the assistance available from both the Red Cross and local health centers. Ongoing relationships between local Red Cross units and FQHCs can boost support for local communities in many ways, such as by raising awareness about:
- How to prepare yourself, your family, your home and your community for emergencies
- Free preparedness and response services offered by the Red Cross, which are available and safe to use regardless of legal status—not only for major disasters but for everyday disasters such as home fires
- Red Cross training available to help people learn CPR, first aid, fire prevention, swimming and other lifesaving skills
- Medical services offered by FQHCs, should they come to the Red Cross seeking medical assistance
- The safety and importance of giving blood, which is a particularly vital message for the Hispanic population since they have an exceptionally high occurrence of the universal blood type—a blood type that can be transfused to patients with any of the other blood types—and yet less than 0.2 percent currently donate blood.
For about six months, the West Shore Chapter of the American Red Cross in Baldwin, Mich., has provided information about their health and safety resources to community-based organizations through the Lake County Human Services Roundtable Network, including Family Health Care—an FQHC serving the Baldwin, Grant and White Cloud communities. Sue Smalley, Business Operations Officer at the Red Cross chapter, said that she is grateful for the help in reaching out to her community with potentially lifesaving information.
At the national level, NACHC is already working to help improve awareness of and access to Red Cross disaster services in underserved communities by providing potential health center sites for Red Cross-sponsored Disaster and Emergency Response Trainings. Trainings would take place in major metropolitan areas around the country and aim to increase the number of bilingual and culturally-sensitive volunteers who are ready to respond to national disasters and local community emergencies.
“I’m very happy to be working with NACHC on this project,” said Eduardo Moreno Cerezo, the Red Cross Training Project Lead. “The best way to serve Latinos and other diverse communities is to involve them in Red Cross services and NACHC has been very helpful in working to make that happen.”
To learn more about these services or obtain preparedness information or to become a Red Cross volunteer, visit RedCross.org or contact your local chapter of the American Red Cross. To locate a blood donation center or blood drive near you and to schedule an appointment to give blood, visit GiveLife.org. For more information about the mission and services of the National Association of Community Health Centers, visit www.nachc.org.
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