How the LHC Started

In March 2020, faculty members from Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health began convening bi-weekly virtual meetings with representatives from the Department of Public Health in Philadelphia and Latino-serving organizations representing health, social, legal, and government sectors. The main objectives were three-fold: 1) to come together to identify the most pressing COVID-19 needs at the community- and the organizational levels, 2 to share information and resources to respond to these needs and 3) to advocate for the implementation of strategies and allocation of resources to meet the needs of this group.  What began as a series of Zoom meetings focused only on COVID-19 quickly grew into a collective of over 60 different Latino-serving organizations that tackles other social, economic, and health issues impacting Philadelphia’s Latino community. 
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Who we are

We are a collective of city officials, policymakers, public health workers, medical professionals, and leaders from over 60 different Latino-serving organizations representing health, social, legal services in the Philadelphia area.
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What we do

We meet monthly to review local COVID-19 trends and other health issues of public health relevance among Latinos in the Philadelphia area. We monitor disparities in health outcomes and access to services (health, social, economic). We brainstorm, identify, share resources, and increase awareness about available health, human, legal, economic, and educational resources for Latino communities in our region. We learn about the work that others are doing to address the needs of Latinos living in the Philadelphia area. We aim to facilitate connections, collaborations, and partnerships across Latino-serving organizations and professionals to increase access to resources and to ultimately improve how they serve their Latino clients.

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Mission Statement

The LHC strives to achieve health equity for each and every member of the Philadelphia Latino community through dialogue, advocacy, mobilization, and inter-organizational collaboration. We are committed to working to reduce health disparities among the Latino population in the Philadelphia area and to help this community to thrive.