This is New Hampshire: Exploring Diversity in the Granite State

By Nour Habib, Granite State News Collaborative Engagement Reporter

Good morning!
I'll start off with a big thank you to all those who have read and engaged with our latest series "Invisible Walls," which examines how zoning laws are reinforcing inequities in Manchester.
Elected leaders and city officials have reached out to our reporters and editors about the issue as some re-zoning efforts begin. And we've received a lot of reader feedback on the series, which is ongoing.
Our latest story in the series examines how discriminatory lending practices persist in New Hampshire, creating obstacles to home ownership for non-white residents.

Other stories

I'd also like to highlight a story on the state's new system for mental health crises. In its first month alone, Granite Staters in emotional and mental health crisis reached out more than 4,000 times to the Rapid Response Access Point program. Read more here about how the new system works and how it streamlines services.
In November, Collaborative reporter Jenny Whidden wrote a story about the state's Native American Commission being unable to vote due to lack of members. Since then, Gov. Sununu has appointed four new members to the commission. The commission chair expects to hold the year's first public meeting this month.
Finally, our partners at The Keene Sentinel have just launched their new Monadnock Region Health Reporting Lab. The lab is a new approach to reporting on health issues, with a focus on solutions. Read more about the project here.

The State We're In: Town Meeting

Last week's episode of The State We're In takes a look at New Hampshire's town meeting, and how it allows residents to access one of the most direct forms of democracy. You can watch at the link above.

Reporter Kelly Burch wrote an accompanying story that takes a brief look at the tradition and history of town meeting, and how it has evolved.

Three Questions with Wanda Castillo-Diaz

Wanda Castillo-Diaz has been a community health worker for many years, working both in community and school settings.

Community health workers are trusted members of the communities in which they work, Castillo-Diaz said.

“A lot of times they come from the same background of the community they are serving,” she said.

Their work includes acting as a liaison between healthcare providers and the community. For example, they often follow up with patients regarding care recommended by providers, such as making a home visit to ask if medications are working well or showing a patient how to use an asthma inhaler or tools needed to monitor other chronic conditions.

Community health workers also work with clients to make sure that social determinants of health – or where they “live, work and play” – are addressed. For example, if a student tells a teacher that his family slept with their coats on because they had no heat, a community health worker might work with a school counselor to connect a family with resources that can get the heat back on.

“All those stressors could affect our health,” said Castillo-Diaz, who currently works for the City of Manchester Health Department.

So community health workers help families navigate the health system, but also access social supports and services that ultimately also have an impact on health.

Below, Castillo-Diaz tells us more about the role of community health workers. Answers have been edited for length and clarity.

1. What is unique about the role of a community health worker?

One of the unique roles of the community health worker is that we are not just putting the referrals in the person’s hands and saying, ‘Call this place.’ When families are in crisis, they don't know how to start, especially if English is not their first language. So we are not only providing the information, but we are sitting down with them, making the phone call, completing the paperwork. I will assist the family all the way, to make sure that the referral was made and completed at the other end.

2. What led you to enter this field?

I'm from Puerto Rico, and I moved to the Bronx, New York at age 15. I became the interpreter, and the person knowing the system and helping family members to navigate the system. Then back in 1993, we moved to New Hampshire, which, even now, is a mostly white state, but back then it was even whiter. And many of my family members didn't speak English, so I became the person helping them and being the interpreter at the hospital and things like that. Then I started helping other friends. Then I met the CEO of what used to be New Hampshire Minority Health Coalition, and she talked to me about being a peer educator, which goes under the umbrella of community health workers. She said, you're doing this in the community, maybe you can be part of our team and do it for a living. And because my mom is a nurse and my father is a paramedic, I was always around helping others. So I decided to do this, because I know that sometimes when people are just newly arrived in the United States, it is difficult to navigate the system.

3. What has changed in the years since you entered the field?

What I feel is the most important change is that other members of the health field and social services field are recognizing why community health workers are important. Some states now even have certification training for community health workers. And in some states community health workers can bill their services to health insurance. That hasn’t happened in New Hampshire yet, but hopefully soon.

Thanks for reading! See you next month. -- Nour

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ABOUT THE GRANITE STATE NEWS COLLABORATIVE

The Granite State News Collaborative is a collective of about 20 local media, education and community partners working together to produce and share news stories on the issues that most impact our state. Together we can provide more information to more communities across New Hampshire than we could individually.