Community Health Connections
September 2021 - Vol.2, Issue 8
Community Care HUB Celebrates
One Year since Launch
September 1, 2021 marked the one-year anniversary of the Community Care HUB. We are grateful to HUB Care Coordination Agencies - Alleghenies United Cerebral Palsy, Beginnings, Inc., & Community Action Partnership of Cambria County - who became Care Coordination Agency partners of ours over a year ago. Needless to say, starting a home-visiting program during a pandemic made things challenging for Community Health Workers, but they adapted with ease. Over the past year, the HUB has reached many milestones, including:
  • All Community Health Workers became certified through the PA Certification Board.
  • The HUB expanded its participant population to include families of the Greater Johnstown School District.
  • Gateway Health Plan became an official partner of the HUB to improve the health of their members.
Housing Symposium for Cambria & Somerset Counties set for November 18th
A Housing Symposium for Cambria and Somerset Counties will be held virtually Thursday, November 18th from
9-11:30 am. Housing assistance providers will explain current housing assistance programs available for Cambria and Somerset county residents, including the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), Section 8, and more. There will be plenty of time for Q&A and interaction between presenters and attendees.
Cambria-Somerset COVID-19 Task Force
Work Underway with Focus on Schools
Due to the recent surge of Covid cases caused by the Delta Variant, the Cambria-Somerset Covid Task Force began meeting again on August 26th. At that meeting, members decided to focus on the following three priorities this fall: 1) Vaccine promotion and education 2) Booster shot clinics and 3) School vaccinations and mitigation efforts.

The school subgroup developed a letter along with a list of Covid resources (left) that was disseminated to all school districts in both counties on behalf of the Task Force. The letter stressed the importance of following CDC and PA DOH guidelines including vaccination, proper masking, use of air filtration systems, & testing. Schools were also invited to join the task force and offered help with vaccine clinics.
Staff Member to present at American
Public Health Association Annual Meeting
On October 25th at 2:30 pm, 1889 JCPH Project Manager Leanna Bird will present at the American Public Health Association's 2021 Annual Meeting. Her session entitled "Redesigning care coordination in rural communities through the mobilization of community health workers" will be presented as part of a virtual roundtable discussion with other Healthiest Cities and Counties Challenge communities across the U.S. The theme of this year's Annual Meeting is "Creating the Healthiest Nation: Strengthening Social Connectedness."
News Bites
CHWs Out in the Community
Flor Hernandez, HUB Community Health Worker at Beginnings, Inc., is doing outreach for the Community Care HUB at EthinicFest in Johnstown over Labor Day weekend. She is joined by Shaunna Bobak, Early Intervention Field Supervisor at Beginnings, Inc. Great work, Flor, spreading the word about the Community Care HUB to area residents!
CamTran Experiential Ride
On September 3rd, Community Health Worker Cait Farber and 1889 JCPH Project Manager Leanna Bird joined Pitt Johnstown Baccalaureate Nursing Program senior students enrolled in Community Health Nursing for a ride on a CamTran bus to see communities throughout Johnstown and understand what it's like to ride public transportation. Cait also shared with students what she does as a CHW for the HUB.

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