Maternal and Child Health Access

Medical Debt - applied legitimately or mistakenly - has skyrocketed in California and nationwide. This project would assist with wiping out medical debt as well as assisting those whose type of work may make it difficult to prove income for health coverage applications - who don't get standard paychecks or whose income fluctuates or in other ways don't "fit the mold" and who may give up on health coverage in frustration. MCHA are experts in health coverage and can help make health coverage possible for the most difficult of situations.

The initiative will support training and job development for interpreters for several Mayan (Guatemalan) and other languages spoken by Central American and Mexican immigrants in greater Central and South Los Angeles. The training and job development will lead to employment and greater economic security for the individuals trained and their families. Staff and trainees will work to increase recognition for the need for and right of interpreters for medical and social service appointments and encounters.

The program will support in-language outreach to immigrants concentrated in the Pico-Union and Westlake areas who may not speak English or Spanish. California will reach near-universal health coverage with Medi-Cal extending to all income-eligible regardless of immigration status as of January 1, 2024. To be successful, lack of awareness, misinformation and fear, and logistical barriers must be overcome - best accomplished by people from the community itself.