By Teresa Crimmens, Executive Director, Sierra Community House
Sierra Community House Promotoras have been attending the Visión y Compromiso conference for over a decade. It is the premier professional development conference for promotoras. The entire conference is held in Spanish, with English interpretation available for some sessions.
For me, attending this conference is a real honor to be among statewide leaders in promotora work. Many of us, myself included, use “Community Health Worker” as the English translation of promotora. But Community Health Worker doesn’t fully capture what it means to be a promotora.
Visión y Compromiso defines promotoras this way: “Characterized by their heartfelt service, the role of the promotores extends beyond functions related to community health and is driven by a passion for justice and equity. A workforce comprised predominantly of Latina women, the promotoras are community bridges… connect[ing] low-income and historically disadvantaged communities with information on public health and social services, local resources, healthcare, education, housing, and legal systems, including immigration systems.”
At this year’s conference, the Tahoe Truckee region was represented by promotoras from SCH, the Town of Truckee, and Tahoe Forest Health District. Speakers included several elected leaders, among them Congressman Raul Ruiz, a former emergency room doctor who recently introduced a House resolution (H. Res. 1583) supporting October as National Promotoras Month, Palm Springs Mayor Naomi Soto. Conrado Bárzaga, VP of Innercare, also spoke about their approach of including promotoras in clinical and preventive care.
Seeing the spectrum of work done by promotoras across the state, from workers’ rights to food security, immigrant rights, domestic and sexual violence response, family strengthening, and economic justice, I saw a holistic approach to fostering healthy and dignified families and communities. And I see a reflection of our work at Sierra Community House. Indeed, SCH Promotoras work within every SCH department, connecting community members with services from food to rental assistance, from parenting classes to domestic violence counseling.
I feel honored to be a part of La Alianza, which is convened by Visión y Compromiso. La Alianza is a coalition of community-based organizations (CBOs) across California with a strong history of recruiting, training, and supporting promotoras and community health workers (CHWs). La Alianza works to amplify the voices of promotoras and CHWs through a unified agenda aimed at increasing investments in public health infrastructure and prevention-focused activities to advance equity and improve the health and well-being of immigrant and Indigenous communities, communities of color, and the uninsured. This year, that advocacy paid off. The California state budget includes $15 million to grow the promotora workforce.
Attending for the first time, I came home with a deeper appreciation for the power of promotoras. Their heartfelt, community-centered approach is where that power comes from. Here in North Tahoe Truckee, promotoras are trusted resource navigators, health educators, and support group facilitators. Statewide and beyond, the promotora workforce has demonstrated its effectiveness in helping to decrease visits to the emergency room and improve health and well-being for families. This year’s state investment is a well-deserved step toward expanding the positive impact that promotoras have on communities.
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