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John Hernandez & Team Win Award for Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools


John Hernandez san antonio ec isd trauma award

John Hernandez cares so much about students who experience trauma, such as neglect, that he started a committee and a system to identify, track, and support these kids and prevent drop-outs at East Central ISD in San Antonio. We at Salud America! were so inspired we nominated Hernandez and the committee for the 2018 Crystal Star Award. Now they've won! Hernandez and his committee, called EC Cares, received the Crystal Star Awards of Excellence in Dropout Recovery, Intervention, and Prevention in October 2018 from the National Dropout Prevention Center at their conference in Columbus, Ohio. Every year, the Center brings national recognition to outstanding individuals and programs making significant contributions to the advancement of dropout prevention. Hernandez and EC ...

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Salud America! Gets $1.5M to Drive Health Equity for Latino, All Families


Latino health equity family collage

Salud America! has received a two-year, $1.5 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to create new digital content to inspire people to drive community change for health equity for Latino and all U.S. families. Salud America! was established nationally in 2007 and is based at UT Health San Antonio. The program produces culturally relevant multimedia research, tools, and stories to fuel its online network—more than 200,000 moms and dads, healthcare providers, and community and school leaders—to start healthy changes to policies, systems, and environments where Latino children and families can equitably live, learn, work, and play. The new funding will extend Salud America! from October 2018 to October 2020. Salud America! now will engage more people with ...

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Webcast: Dr. Amelie Ramirez on Advocacy for Latino Health Equity


Amelie Ramirez komen scholar cancer research

Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio, will explore how to stimulate community advocacy for health equity in Latino and all communities in a new webcast as part of the Director’s Seminar Series by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities! The webcast is set for 11 a.m. EST Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. View the webcast here. Latinos are a rising U.S. powerhouse. But they face barriers to be their healthiest and suffer high rates of obesity and other health disparities. Dr. Ramirez's Salud America! program is a national Latino-focused organization that creates culturally relevant and research-based stories, videos, and tools. These elements aim to inspire people to start and support healthy changes to policies, systems, ...

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San Antonio Wins ‘Culture of Health’ Prize!


RWJF San Antonio culture of health prize winner

Two majority-Latino communities are among the four winners of the 2018 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Culture of Health Prize! San Antonio, Texas (63.6% Latino) and Cicero, Ill. (88.8% Latino) were chosen from nearly 200 applicants. Eatonville, Fla., and Klamath County, Ore., also won. These communities made strong efforts to build a culture of health is where everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. They brought neighborhood, school, and business partners together to improve health for all residents. Winning communities get a $25,000 prize and will have their inspiring stories shared by RWJF. “These inspiring places are engaging community members in decision making to give all residents the opportunity to live well, no matter where they ...

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Award Finalist: Dr. Amelie Ramirez’s Latino Cancer Research Training Program


Exito Collage

Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training has been named a finalist for Excelencia in Education's "Examples of Excelencia" that spotlight evidence-based practices that support Latino students in higher education. Éxito! and 20 other finalists were chosen from 139 applications. Winning "Examples of Excelencia" in four categories—associate, baccalaureate, graduate, and community-based organizations—will be announced at Excelencia in Education's annual Celebración de Excelencia on Oct. 11, 2018, in Washington, D.C. Excelencia in Education is a national group that promotes Latinos in higher education. Éxito!, led by Salud America! director Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez of UT Health San Antonio, recruits 25 Latino students and health professionals annually for a culturally ...

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Helping Latinos with Affordable Housing


MEDA San Francisco

What does it take to help Latinos access below-market-rate housing in San Francisco's Mission District, a traditionally Latino neighborhood that has seen 8,000 Latinos displaced by high-cost housing since 2000? Collaboration. The Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) is teaming up with more than a half-dozen Latino-focused community groups—like Faith in Action, Instituto Familiar de la Raza, and Mission Neighborhood Health Center—to foster education and action around below-market-rate apartment options. They also work with partners to create new affordable housing properties. They also have programs to help Latinos save their homes from foreclosure. The end goal: increase the number of Latinos who successfully obtain affordable housing units. "We have a strong sense of ...

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Colonias: A Public Health Crisis on the Texas-Mexico Border



Health problems plague the half-million people living in colonias in South Texas, U.S. News reports. Colonias are predominantly Latino, unincorporated, and impoverished areas along the Texas-Mexico border. People live in makeshift shacks or trailers. They lack streets and basic public services, such as running water. Texas has about 2,300 colonias. 900 are in the Rio Grande Valley, including Hidalgo County. The county is one of the fastest growing counties in Texas, home to the bigger cities of McAllen & Edinburg. "Ramshackle living conditions [in colonias] have led to a plethora of health concerns," according to the news report. "About 38,000 colonia residents lacked access to clean drinking water." Colonia Health Concerns Many Latino families lack of support for economic ...

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See Why Critics Love Our Digital Health Platforms


Salud America Website

We at Salud America! are dedicated to helping people drive healthy community change for Latino and all kids. That’s why we’re excited to announce our efforts have won three Digital Health Awards from the Health Information Resource Center. The Center is a national clearinghouse for professionals who work in consumer health fields. It recognizes the world’s best digital health resources: Spring 2018 Digital Health Awards, Gold, Salud America! Twitter Spring 2018 Digital Health Awards, Silver, Salud America! Website Spring 2018 Digital Health Awards, Silver, Salud America! Digital Health Curation “We’re humbled by the recognition of our communication work from groups like the Health Information Resource Center,” said Dr. Amelie Ramirez, director of Salud ...

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