African
Services outreach program reaches over 5,000 African and Caribbean
immigrants each year where they live, work, shop and socialize.
Staffed
by African community health workers, the program promotes awareness of
health rights and services by targeting at-risk immigrants living in
the high-poverty and high-seroprevalence neighborhoods.
Working in the five boroughs of New York City, the outreach team
visits African businesses and shops, restaurants and cafes, community
centers and places of worship, associations and community gatherings.
Through peer-to-peer contacts, they provide multilingual health
information, free condoms, referrals to HIV testing at African Servies
and information about our food pantry, ESL classes and legal services.
Outreach is conducted in English, French, Fulani, Wolof, Bambara and
Mandingo.
African Services' outreach workers play a critical role in reaching
out to newly-arrived immigrants, maintaining a dialogue on HIV in the
community, and fostering community familiarity and trust with our
agency and staff. They have opened the door to cooperation with African
community leaders and health care providers alike, who are aware of the
need for culturally relevant outreach, information, care and support.
It is a model of community outreach that has been replicated in diverse
communities.
For more information, contact Sean Brennan, Assistant Director of Health Programs, at (212) 222-3882 x122.
