Due to the current coronavirus pandemic and economic crisis, a number of people in the Spanish-speaking Latino community are not getting important information they may need for themselves and their families.
For years, the Spanish-speaking community has struggled to receive timely, culturally appropriate information related to emerging needs. In April, Mi Vida, Mi Voz (My Life, My Voice), a collaboration of local Latino-serving organizations, pivoted to address this need. With the pandemic’s disproportionate health and economic impact in the Latino community, this information is critical.
Mi Vida, Mi Voz (MVMV) has been collecting information about community resources in five basic categories: health; basic needs (food, financial support, housing, legal); mental health; children and families; and seniors. The initial emphasis has been on health and basic needs information during COVID-19.
“Getting information to the Spanish-speaking Latino community is a challenge for many organizations and for our community as a whole,” said Adriana Marroquin, community initiatives manager at Hospice of Santa Barbara.
“The primary strategy by which MVMV will help with the spread of information is by harnessing the collective power of our existing relationship network — people and organizations who we have built trusted relationships with over the years,” she said.
Mi Vida Mi Voz is disseminating this information in Spanish and English by providing direct, user-friendly access to a resource website (mividamivoz.com) as a community gathering place for this vital information, and by sending out a short weekly newsletter with curated content about current or arising issues.
Their partners/champions are comprised of trusted leaders with years of work in the Latino community, making them and their networks well-situated to get the information into the hands of the people who need it most. Together, these champions, their organizations, and their networks serve tens of thousands of Latino families.
Networks include the Latino Elder Outreach Network (LEON), Family Resource Centers network, Promotores de Salud, LISTOS, Rincon Spanish-Language Radio Stations, Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics, Latinx and Indigenous Migrant COVID-19 Response Taskforce, Community Wellness Team, and Adult & Aging Network.
Resources for the Spanish-speaking community can be found at https://mividamivoz.com/. For more, contact Marroquin at amarroquin@hospiceofsb.org or 805-705-4846
For more information about Hospice of Santa Barbara, including volunteer opportunities, call 805-563-8820 or visit www.hospiceofsantabarbara.org.