The Minnesota Community Health Worker Alliance

The mission of the Alliance is to provide a one stop shop where CHWs and CHW stakeholders work together to advance the profession of the CHW throughout Minnesota. The Alliance's core principals are to incorporate the role of the CHW in the health and social service sectors to decrease health disparities by reducing the social economic risk factors for the underserved population in Minnesota.

The Alliance meets monthly and new members are always welcome to join - please contact Joan Cleary for more information - joanlcleary@gmail.com.

What is a CHW?

Community Health Workers (CHW) come from the communities they serve, building trust and vital relationships. This trusting relationship enables the CHWs to be effective links between their own communities and systems of care. This crucial relationship significantly lowers health disparities in Minnesota because CHWs: provide access to services, improve the quality and cultural competence of care, create an effective system of chronic disease management, and increase the health knowledge and self sufficiency of underserved populations.

What We Do

The CHW Alliance aims to provide a service to ensure the inclusion of CHWs into the health and social service sectors in Minnesota. The Alliance is structured so that partners from all sectors can come together through an organized structure to support the profession of the CHW. The Alliance has four different areas of involvement - they include:

 

  1. Policy and Research: Mission: Advance the profession of the CHWs in MN through research, policy and education.
  2. Education: Mission: Advance the knowledge & skill set of CHWs in MN, and provide a structure for the schools to manage the statewide CHW curriculum.
  3. Workforce: Mission: Promote the role of CHWs and establish a sustainable system to fund CHWs in Minnesota.
  4. CHW Leadership Development & Partnership: Mission: Help foster CHW leadership, encourage CHW participation in the Alliance and partner on field-building with CHW networks.