Health Programs for Immigrants

New immigrants face significant barriers inaccessing health care due to language barriers, lack of culturally competent caregivers, their uninsured status and lack of familiarity with teh public health system

Many newcomers from the African Diaspora are in urgent need of care and are also at high risk for HIV infection. Providing access to care for this underserved and hard-to-reach population is central to our mission.

African Services has sought to fill this gap in health care for African immigrants with integrated health programs that are culturally and linguistically appropriate to reach the most vulnerable segments of our community. Our health programs are designed to address health disparities in the African community, to provide maximum opportunity for immigrants to obtain healthcare, and to ensure that all New Yorkers have access to HIV testing, care and support.

We do this through community-based model of health care led by community health workers who speak French, English, Spanish, Haitian Creole, Wolof, Pulaar, Mandingo, Soninke and many other African languages.

They conduct street outreach and health promotion in all five boroughs, help poor immigrants enroll in low-fee health care, provide hospital escort and medical interpretation for immigrant patients at hospitals and clinics throughout the city, and staff our on-site testing center as well as a range of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support programs.

Referrals to care are provided through our network of providers at hospitals throughout the city, who in turn refer immigrant patients to African Services for care and support. Each year, we help over 1,000 immigrants access essential health care and treatment.

African Services has conceived, developed, implemented, and evaluated a full continuum of HIV, TB and STD interventions to meet the needs of immigrants.

For more information, contact Mulusew Bekele, Director of Health Programs at 212-222-3882 x121.