Blue Cross NC invests $130k in Triangle nonprofit to support Latino community health
With North Carolina Latinos bearing the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina is investing $130,000 in one of the Triangle’s main Latino advocacy organizations.
Blue Cross NC told The News & Observer this week that they’re investing in nonprofit El Centro Hispano, as part of a statewide philanthropic effort to support vulnerable populations.
Of the roughly 65,000 COVID-19 cases for which ethnicity has been recorded in the state, Latinos, primarily immigrant essential workers, make up nearly half — 42%.
“This disproportion is not right, so the company wants to do something about it,” said Gustavo Bernal, who is in charge of multicultural marketing and sponsorship for Blue Cross NC.
El Centro Hispano, established in Durham in 1997, has worked at the forefront to provide health education in Spanish through health education staff, distributing PPE and other direct assistance for Latino North Carolinians.
“Besides what is being done in regards to health, we’ve been doing food assistance and helping with paying rents and bills,” said Pilar Rocha-Goldberg, the nonprofit’s executive director. “The need is very great and we’ve been fundraising for it, but we also need to have staff to help out with applications for assistance.”
El Centro Hispano has helped more than 1,800 families with food assistance and paid over $50,000 in rent and bills for families during the pandemic, Rocha-Goldberg said. But the demand has always been more than what can realistically be met across the three counties.
Blue Cross NC’s investment will allow the center to expand its personnel to better meet the community’s needs.
“We also want to use the funds to do more community outreach in person, not just through social media, but with more people to go out into and give out masks and education information,” Rocha-Goldberg said.
The investment will restart the organization’s health outreach program, which involves a mobile unit that offers health assessments, education and legal help.
Latinos also have been particularly affected when it comes to paying rent, according to a presentation from the public policy school at the University of North Carolina. Latino renters have the highest rates of not being able to pay rent, according to a 2020 U.S. Census Bureau housing survey.
Latino and Black people also reported the highest rates of anxiety and food insecurity during the pandemic from late April to early July.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services announced on June 26 that El Centro Hispano was among the Latino organizations it was partnering with and awarded them a $100,000 grant.
Rocha-Goldberg said those funds can only be used for PPE distribution and community outreach programs, according to their partnership with NCDHHS.
“We think there’s three essential things to do in order to maintain the health of our people: one is health equity, the other one is access to care and of course, information,” said Bernal.
The Latino community has lacked all three during the pandemic, Bernal said.
Blue Cross NC has been in partnership with El Centro Hispano addressing community health needs for years. A Blue Cross marketing representative holds a position on the nonprofit’s board of directors.
Blue Cross NC’s investments in minority health have also included a $40,000 grant for Camino Community Center, a Christian nonprofit in Charlotte that serves Latino health needs, and a $250,000 investment in El Futuro, a nonprofit mental health clinic for Latino families in Chatham County.
