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SpanishLike you, I have been enjoying the spring weather, allowing us to see each other with some sunshine around our often still masked faces! Overall, we see the ways that COVID is abating, allowing opening of spaces and closer gatherings, but that is still looking through a wide-angle lens. When we zoom in with the telephoto lens, we still see communities struggling with access to testing and vaccine and the ACH is drawn to offer help in those areas.
We’re amazed every day to learn of one more organization or new effort to reach people who don’t connect to the standard ways of outreach. They might be disconnected from the internet, speak another language (that I wish I could quickly learn!), not be able to navigate complex appointment sites, or not feel welcome in traditional clinic and community settings.
We’ve been honored to share space with tribal partners who are reaching out to surrounding communities to assist with vaccine delivery, trusted community organizations working with community health workers and promotoras – living in, understanding, and supporting their community in immeasurable ways. We are so grateful for them and all they do and continue to search for ways we can support them as they support community.
We also learned that the primary effort we’ve been working on – focused on improving the lives of people on Medicaid – has been extended for another year. That brings us one more year of financial resources to invest in the region through our partner organizations. At the same time, our team continues to receive the maximum scoring on our deliverables to the Health Care Authority, a sign that the work our partners are doing is showing measurable impact.
Through the last 15 months we’ve also seen the importance of public health, and the burden they carry in responding to a pandemic. Finding linkages between traditional public health and those amazing community organizations has shown itself to be a role for the ACH – bridging and advocating for communities to play a role in how emergency response is planned, organized, and delivered.
Archives for May 2021
New Members of Our Team! May 2021
We’ve recently added FOUR new members to our staff! Welcome Cináed, Woody, Rajdeep, and Megan.
Cináed Boyd (They/Them/He/Him) was born in Bellingham and raised in 18 different states. They cultivated a love for electronics and technology from a very young age and began contracting while working in dozens of different industries, from concrete construction to beverage distribution. They earned their Associates of Computer Information Services from Whatcom Community College along with certifications in Information Security and Network Administration, and are currently pursuing a Bachelor of Cybersecurity. Cináed considers themselves a holistically-minded network and system administrator who works to unite all of their experience and education to craft sensible technological infrastructure and solutions.
Woody Tovar Cano (He/Him) was born and raised in Skagit county. He graduated from Bellingham Technical College with a degree in Computer Network along with a Computer Networking Support Certificate. Woody worked for a managed service provider (MSP) for 4 years where he assisted companies, non-profits, and municipalities with their IT needs, ranging from full network and server deployments to end user support. Working for the MSP gave Woody the opportunity to work with many different industries and expose him to many kinds of technologies, solutions, and standards.
Rajdeep Atwal (She/Her) most recently worked in Care Coordination at Sea Mar, predominately working with underserved populations. She received her bachelors of science in Psychology from Western Washington Universtiy, then earned her MBA in Healthcare Management.
Rajdeep has a background in behavioral health and substance abuse; her role as Project Manager at the ACH will have her focusing on the hub, vaccine clinics, and care coordination.
Megan Stephenson (She/Her) comes to North Sound ACH with direct experience as a Community Health Worker, patient advocate, and Washington State insurance navigator. She also worked as a news reporter for many years, and completed an original community health project for her Master’s in Anthropology. She’s excited to bring all her experience together, working for health equity and collaboration in our communities.
