Are you a Community Health Worker? Join the CHW Committee!

Are you a Community Health Worker, health promoter, outreach specialist, patient navigator, health educator or coach, advocate, or peer support specialist, or a leader in your community? Whatever your title, we want you to join the Alignment's CHW Committee!

We are currently identifying current members’ level of commitment in order to increase participation from all CHWs & Community Members in the Alignment. However, we also know that our CHW Committee needs more CHWs in order to flourish. Our goal is to foster a strong group of members who are interested in launching new projects & activities in the near future.

We are also trying something NEW to make membership more equitable!

Moving forward, we will implement a strategy to eliminate financial barriers for CHWs by offering compensation to those who are not getting paid through their organization for their participation in the Alignment, as well as for community members who do not represent an organization and are participating on their own time.
At this time, we can ensure payment until September 30, 2024. We will do our best to secure additional funding to compensate our CHWs who are not getting paid, as one of the key operating principles of the Alignment is to "Respect the wisdom of community members and Community Health Outreach Workers (CHOWs), and value their input.”

Committee members are expected to commit to:

• A 1 hour hybrid committee meeting every month or every other month
• A 2.5 hour in-person quarterly meeting every 3 months
• Planning meetings & special committee events/activities, as needed

Upcoming projects will align with the CHW Committee's 2024-2025 priorities:

1. Ensure culturally competent services by providing cultural competence trainings
2. Support the Aging Committee & providers for aging populations
3. Support the Maine Primary Care Plus program
4. Support the Maine CHW Initiative (MECHW) to finalize a CHW definition & support housing bills

Any CHWs who are interested in joining the committee or would like more information should fill out our New Member Interest Form! Please contact sbergeron@portlandmaine.gov with any questions.