It’s Summer Youth Institute Time at Mariposa Community Health Center!!!

This summer Mariposa Community Health Center’s Platicamos Salud program accepted 25 students to participate in its 9th annual Summer Youth Institute (SYI) Program. The program started on June 14th and will end on July 22nd. This year’s Summer Youth Institute includes certifications in tobacco use prevention, HIV prevention and First Aid/CPR. Additional topics include drug use awareness/prevention, teen dating violence, career education, “Reality Sexuality”, nutrition/fitness, leadership development, etc. Our students also receive training on the techniques and skills needed to enter the workplace.

New this year, we are offering a class in Health Research Methods 101 at the UA College of Public Health, plus a gun safety lecture with special guest speaker, Perla Wilczewski, Sofia Palma’s mother. Richard Teran, a Bill Gates Scholarship recipient and one of our former SYI students and Teen Health Facilitators, returned home again this summer to take a leadership role in the SYI program. Richard will return to George Washington University in Washington, DC following this year’s SYI.

Congratulations to the 25 students of the Summer Youth Institute Program of 2010!

Ventanilla de Salud at the Mexican Consulate

In February 2010, Platicamos Salud, our Health Promotion/Disease Prevention Department, opened a Ventanilla de Salud (Health Booth) at the Mexican Consulate in Nogales, thanks to an agreement between Mariposa Community Health Center and the Instituto Mexicano de Relaciones Exteriores.

This Ventanilla is one of over forty found at the Mexican Consulates throughout the U.S. The Mexican Secretary of Health, Dr. Jose Cordoba Villalobos and Mr. Welden, CEO of Mariposa Community Health Center, were among the dignitaries at the formal inauguration which took place on January 20th.

On the picture (above) from left to right are James Welden, Chief Executive Officer of Mariposa Community Health Center, Consul Beatriz Lopez Gargallo, Dr. Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos, Mexican Minister of Health, Bernardo Campillo, Secretary of Health of the State of Sonora, Dr. Bernardo Campillo and Susan Kunz, Director of MCHC Platicamos Salud (Health Promotion/Disease Prevention).

Our Promotoras are offering health education, information on community resources, oral health screenings, insurance eligibility and application renewal to Mexican immigrants and their families on a weekly basis. It is anticipated that approximately 200 individuals will be reached monthly through our outreach efforts. This new service will help us better serve families in the community, many of whom have mixed immigration status and are not aware of what services they are eligible for.