R 200
2017 -- H 6152
Enacted 04/26/2017

H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N
PROCLAIMING THE MONTH OF APRIL, 2017, TO BE "COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS MONTH" IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

Introduced By: Representatives Diaz, Hull, Williams, Ranglin-Vassell, and Maldonado
Date Introduced: April 26, 2017

     WHEREAS, Community Health Workers (CHWs) are professional non-clinicians who
seek to promote the community's voice within the health care system. They provide a forum to
share resources and strategies and advocate for underserved populations while making health
services more culturally and linguistically appropriate; and
     WHEREAS, Community Health Worker professionals build individual and community
capacity by increasing health knowledge and self-sufficiency through a range of activities
including outreach, community education, counseling, and social support with an overall goal of
eliminating health disparities based on race, ethnicity, gender, and class; and
     WHEREAS, Community Health Worker professionals improve workforce diversity, a
critical step in achieving health equity; and
     WHEREAS, The Community Health Worker workforce is an apprenticeable profession
according to the Rhode Island State Department of Labor and Training and the Rhode Island
Department of Health; now, therefore be it
     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and
Providence Plantations hereby proclaims April, 2017, to be "Community Health Workers Month"
in the State of Rhode Island. We furthermore thank them for the significant and important
contributions they make towards improving the quality of life for the citizens of our state; and be
it further
     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to
transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Dannie Ritchie, MD, MPH, Brown University
Center for Primary Care and Prevention.
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