Why is the census important?
When I think about the census I think about dollars. So many federal dollars are based on what your population is. How much money comes back to this state is based on what kind of population you have and where they are. So if I think about someone not being represented in sc, I think about those dollars not coming to our state and going to another state. Every day we work with folks that have such huge needs and while money wont fix everything but they help especially as it relates to the social determinants of health .So for me the census is very important and very relevant to the work that we do serving the underserved communities in sc
What do you want people to know about your work?
From the very beginning SCCHWA has been an instrument for giving voice and power to community health workers around south carolina and the communities that we serve. We’ve done a tremendous amount of work in the last 10 years and in 2024 we will be celebrating our 10th anniversary. Thinking about everything we have done around raising voices and the professionalism of the profession, training, we are at a point right now where community health workers are being recognized nationally as essential personal. So starting in January Medicare will start reimbursing for community health workers. In sc in january we will have the first medicare dollars to work with uninsured patients in community based organizations. We are standing on the edge of greatness. There are so many opportunities out there. WE need to celebrate where we are and we need to hunker down and be ready for many more opportunities in workforce development
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