Access to Health Care in the Yakima Valley (II)
Granger, WA, 2000
Health care continues to be a daily worry for the area's farm workers and immigrants. These people—who live in Yakima Valley and whose primary language is Spanish—make up the majority of Radio KDNA's audience. Many cannot read or write. Thus they depend on Radio KDNA to receive information that directs them to services (food stamps, housing), understanding of critical issues (immigration, worker's legislation, welfare reform), and availability of opportunities (employment and education). Radio becomes a stepping stone that takes these listeners into a new culture, into the fast lane of technology, into learning English, into establishing community roots. These concepts are very challenging, and must be initiated in Spanish. Access to health care is one of these challenges.
Radio KDNA worked with Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic (YVFWC) and Providence Health System of Central Washington to promote this radio and outreach campaign. The project targeted the Spanish-speaking residents of the Yakima Valley, specifically legalized as well as undocumented farm worker immigrants, women who are in the state's TANF program, and warehouse workers.
A weekly one-hour program was produced on issues pertinent to Latino women (immigration, education), with emphasis on health-care accessibility. Twice a month, a 30-minute program on the basic health plan and health care for undocumented workers aired.
KDNA also produced 500 60-minute cassettes (30 min. of music plus 30 min. of health-care information) and distributed them to Latino immigrant farm workers at mobile health van site visits (both partners utilize mobile health vans during harvest times and promote health-care outreach services), fiestas, parent meetings, and other local events.
Contact Information
KDNA-FM
Ricardo Garcia, General Manager
Tel: 509-854-2222
Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic
Ann Northrup, Director of Operations
Tel: 509-865-5898
Awards:
KDNA Round One
Access to Health Care in the Yakima Valley
1999 Community Impact Award
— National Federation of Community Broadcasters
Additional Funding: from the Academy for Educational Development, and the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic a total of $73,102.
KDNA Round Two
Access to Health Care in the Yakima Valley
2000 Community Impact Award
— National Federation of Community Broadcasters
Providence Community Health Award
— Providence Health System
Washington State Exemplary Substance Abuse Prevention Award
— State of Washington Department of Social and Health Services
Additional Funding: $15,000 per year underwriting agreement from the State Department of Social Health Services.
KDNA Round Three
Lifetime Achievement Award to Ricardo Garcia, General Manager
—2002 Latino Radio Summit
Heroes Health Care Award to Carlos Olivares, YVFWC Executive Director
—Washington Health Foundation
Special recognition for work on diversity to Mary O'Brien of YVFWC
$4,000 to air a series of 30 minute programs on health related issues
—Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic
$57,405 to educate Latino males about the hazards of tobacco
—local chapter of the American Lung Association
$23,000 to develop education plan on tobacco use among Latinos
—Department of Health
$20,000 for HIV/AIDS education for Latinos
—Yakima Region 2 AIDSNET
$220,000 to KDNA and University of Washington for a 4-year project on environmental justice