Asian Resources, Inc (ARI) Launches Coordinated Strategy to Stop the Spread of COVID-19 and Addressing Unemployment Rate in Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Communities
Sacramento, CA – To curb the spread of COVID-19 in Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities in Sacramento, Asian Resources, Inc (ARI) is launching several key initiatives to provide a coordinated response to the pandemic, which includes the use of bi-lingual Community Health Workers, Contact Tracers, Case Investigators, and Business Navigators.
“For the past 40 years, ARI has served the needs of our most vulnerable, limited English speaking community members, who have been disproportionately impacted by this pandemic. We are proud to launch this multi-pronged strategy and be part of a comprehensive local and statewide efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19. Community-based organizations (CBOs), like ARI, support coordinated, effective COVID-19 response teams, which are essential for any plan to successfully fight COVID-19,” said Stephanie Nguyen, Executive Director.
Through a partnership with the City of Sacramento and CARES Relief Fund, ARI’s Community Health Worker program has trained over 50 community leaders to aid in community outreach and education efforts on COVID-19 prevention. The program will also focus on connecting community members impacted economically by COVID-19 to workforce opportunities. ARI is partnering with trusted AA and NHPI leaders from 12 partner organizations: ACC Senior Services, CAPITAL, Filipino Community of Sacramento and Vicinity, Florin Japanese American Citizens League, Hmong Youth Parents United, lu Mien Community Services, Kannada Sangha of Sacramento, My Sister’s House, OCA-Sacramento, Sacramento Chinese of Indochina Friendship Association, TOFA Inc, and Vietnamese American Community Sacramento to reach and educate hard-to-reach AA and NHPI communities in the fight against COVID-19. In addition to English, ARI’s community health worker team has language capacity in over 18 languages including Cantonese, Fijian, Hindi, Hmong, Ilocano, Japanese, Kannada, Mandarin, Marshallese, Mien, Russian, Samoan, Spanish, Tagalog, Tongan, Turkish, Vietnamese and English.
“We are thrilled to be working with such a diverse group of long-time trusted community leaders and CBOs through our Community Health Worker (CHW) program to ensure that limited English AA and NHPI communities are not left behind during this pandemic. CHWs are critical messengers, and we hope this initiative will demonstrate the power of a community coming together to combat this pandemic. Some of our CHWs have personal family and friends affected by COVID-19, so they are motivated to reach as many community members as possible,” said Leslie Toy, Program Director.
Working with the Sierra Health Foundation, ARI has also launched Contact Tracing/Case Investigation and Business Navigator programs. ARI’s 12 Contact Tracers and Case Investigators are assisting California’s statewide mitigation efforts through contacting individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 and individuals who have been in contact with potential positive cases. The Contract Tracers/Case Investigators have language capacity in 9 different languages including Cantonese, Mien, Tagalog, Ilocano, Russian, Turkish, Spanish, Vietnamese, and English. Furthermore, with California’s phased re-opening, ARI’s Business Navigators are targeting 2000 small businesses in the Oak Park, South Sacramento regions and beyond in Afghan, Dari, Farsi, Hindi, Hmong, Laotian, Punjabi, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese, and Urdu.
“Contact investigation and tracing are critical to stopping the spread of COVID-19 in our communities. It has been a rewarding experience assisting and guiding the residents of Sacramento County who have been affected by this pandemic. Our diverse staff will do what ARI does best, reach out to our disenfranchised communities with bi-lingual diversity, to help flatten the curve and mitigate the damage of COVID-19,” said Billy Gougherty, Program Director.
As Jeremy Huynh, Program Director shared, “To ensure that small businesses can re-open safely, our Business Navigators are currently contacting small local businesses to provide any assistance and resources to help maintain and retain their place of business. We are offering these businesses guidebooks and industry-specific guidelines that follow the changing health order for COVID-19. These resources include personal protective equipment (PPE) materials, resources to find more PPE, small business loans for financial assistance, and signage for capacity changes due to COVID-19.”
For more information about ARI’s COVID-19 prevention programs and services call: (916) 454-1892.