Pictured left to right: Andrew Mosier, CHS president-elect; Daryn Kumar, Memorial Medical Center CEO; Cindy Duenas, CHS executive director; Monica Majors, Sutter Health Plus vice president of sales and marketing.

Sutter Health Plus and Memorial Medical Center recently donated $100,000 to Center for Human Services, a not-for-profit that provides critical community resources to families in the Stanislaus County community. The organization will use the donation to support and expand its Promotoras Program.

In Stanislaus County, underserved Latinos often need help accessing medical services and community programs. The Promotoras Program trains people to serve as promotoras de salud (Spanish term for community health worker) to provide education and outreach to the Latino community. Promotoras act as liaisons between Latinos, health providers, community resources, and social service agencies. Much more than translators, promotoras are advocates, educators, mentors, and role models.

However, the current Promotoras Program is limited and in need of additional financial support to increase its workforce and expand programs. When Sutter Health Plus and Memorial Medical Center learned of the need, both organizations decided to give $50,000 each to the program.

“Sutter’s grant came at the right time—working with the county’s Promotora Network, we’ll use these funds to increase the number of promotoras and expand outreach activities throughout the county,” says Cindy Duenas, Executive Director of Center for Human Services. “This support will help us better serve our medically underserved Latino community.”

“As a great neighbor, we want to do our part to give back to the community,” said Monica Majors, vice president of sales and marketing at Sutter Health Plus. “We’re pleased to partner with the Promotoras Program to help people access medical care and lead healthy lives.”

“We’re looking forward to seeing some of the positive outcomes of the program,” said Daryn Kumar, Memorial Medical Center chief executive officer. “We all share in a commitment to provide our community members with the best care possible, and programs like these help achieve our mission.”