Recently, Salud America reached out to Migrant Health Promotion to learn more about MHP’s joint use agreement with Alice Independent School District in Alice, TX. Salud America asked to interview Program Director Robert de Leon and Program Coordinator Josephine Torres to share with others doing similar work around healthy eating and active living.

Robert de Leon highlights one point regarding the Joint Use Agreement, which has allowed use of the school’s recreational facilities to the public. He says, “We can say that they may know, but do they really? We can’t assume that know they can use the property after school hours.”

The city and school district agreed to a five-year joint use agreement through November 26, 2017. The agreement officially allows the Alice community to use designated school district outdoor recreation
facilities during non-school hours. The final agreement not only includes the AISD school playgrounds but also the trails and a park owned by the district.

The adoption of the joint use agreement model opens the door to behavioral changes in communities to help increase physical activity among children and adults, specifically those who live in rural communities or communities that lack recreational facilities. A joint use agreement may also guide school districts and policy makers in understanding how policies and environmental changes influence and impact diet, exercise, chronic disease and tobacco use among community members.

Robert de Leon prepping for the interview with Salud America.

La Red De Hombre a Hombre consists of men whom have been identified as "Lideres" (Leaders). At one point, these men have participated in/completed the De Hombre a Hombre workshop and have agreed to help us sustain the work by meeting monthly. At these monthly meetings, we ask:

1. What have you done in the past 30 days to help prevent and end violence against all women? 
2. What are some of the benefits of sharing what you've learned with other boys and men? 

In 1983 Migrant Health Promotion was founded in Michigan by the National Migrant Worker Council, Inc. The Council was composed of several Catholic religious congregations of women and was begun in 1969 to support migrant farmworkers in securing needed education, health care, and social services, thereby continuing an established Catholic tradition of advocating for this underserved and hidden population. Having effectively met the health care needs of migrant farmworkers on the East Coast through their work with the East Coast Migrant Health Project (now known as Health Outreach Partners), the Council was anxious to examine and address the barriers that prevented farmworkers in the Midwest from accessing health care services in their communities. This initial concern, supported by a small grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, led to the creation of the Midwest Migrant Health Information Office, now known as Migrant Health Promotion (MHP). Although programmatic efforts were small in scope at the time, the Council’s vision and commitment to learning directly from the farmworkers themselves would lead to an award-winning organization and an approach that would impact and empower hundreds of thousands.

Camp Health Aides
Aware of the work of David Werner and lay health workers in rural Mexico (described in the seminal manual, Where There is No Doctor) and optimistic about the potential of this community-based model to impact the health of farmworkers in the U.S., in 1985 Migrant Health Promotion launched the first Camp Health Aide Program in Bangor, Michigan.  With its focus on participatory learning and supporting people from within the community, the eight inaugural Camp Health Aides, also referred to as Promotores(as) de Salud and Community Health Workers (CHWs), became effective and necessary bridges between the camps where they lived and worked and the broader community, including service providers.  As a result, the program was an immediate success and soon spread to other communities in Michigan and across the country; it has been the model from which all other initiatives at MHP have evolved.