On February 25, 2008, KC members joined close to 1,000 immigrant rights advocates in Albany for the New York Immigration Coalition's "Immigrants' Day of Action". The day started with a morning program at the Hart Lounge in the "Egg". We heard speeches from community members and leaders on NYIC's policy priorities and recommendations as well as the importance of upholding the rights of immigrant communities in New York State. This was followed by a march and a rally at the steps of the Capitol Building. The afternoon ended with legislative visits. KC along with our health advocates spoke about ways to improve access to health care for all New Yorkers, including immigrants and their families, by doing the following: 1. Reduce communication barriers and expand opportunities for bilingual/bicultural health care workers, 2. Guarantee access to affordable health care for all New York residents, including immigrants, 3. Wage a campaign to reassure immigrants about their rights to safe and affordable health care.
KC is part of a 14 member coalition, Project CHARGE(Coalition for Health Access to Reach Greater Equity). This capacity building project aims to strengthen Coalition's members health access knowledges and advocacy skills, assess health access needs of vulnerable API populations, educate decision makers on systemic changes necessary to increase access to low income API immigrants, educate vulnerable populations on health coverage, and disseminate learnings on health access on a national level.
Project CHARGE were joined by Assembly members Richard Gottfried and Ellen Young, City Council Members Alan J. Gerson, Robert Jackson, Chief of Staff John Choe of City Council Member John Liu's Office, and the Asian & Pacific Islander Health Forum (APIAHF), to launch a 4-year national campaign to eliminate health disparities on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 11 am in the Red Room, NYC City Hall.
Project CHARGE is 1 of 8 coalition funded by the Health Through Action, a groundbreaking national initiative between APIAHF and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The Kellogg Foundation awarded an unprecedented $16.5 million for Health Through Action. Project CHARGE will receive $600,000 over 4 years to increase financial access to health care for the diverse API community in NYC.
Specifically, Project CHARGE seeks to:
Increase access to public and private health insurance, and
Increase affordability of care, including prescription medication, and treatment services.
On February 25, 2008, KC members joined close to 1,000 immigrant rights advocates in Albany for the New York Immigration Coalition's "Immigrants' Day of Action". The day started with a morning program at the Hart Lounge in the "Egg". We heard speeches from community members and leaders on NYIC's policy priorities and recommendations as well as the importance of upholding the rights of immigrant communities in New York State. This was followed by a march and a rally at the steps of the Capitol Building. The afternoon ended with legislative visits. KC along with our health advocates spoke about ways to improve access to health care for all New Yorkers, including immigrants and their families, by doing the following: 1. Reduce communication barriers and expand opportunities for bilingual/bicultural health care workers, 2. Guarantee access to affordable health care for all New York residents, including immigrants, 3. Wage a campaign to reassure immigrants about their rights to safe and affordable health care.
