In 1996, after a series of discussions, the TWU Women’s Group identified health and access to healthcare as top concerns in the community, so they started the Healthy Communities Project. That year, they organized the first annual Health Fair and launched a campaign to increase access to healthcare in Arlandria-Chirilagua.
Project members conducted an extensive research project in the community that involved a survey about the quality and accessibility of public health services. They found that language barriers and the cost of services often prevented the low-income and immigrant community from receiving adequate care or resulted in huge medical debt for their families. The first task of the Healthy Communities Campaign was to increase "cultural competency" in area services and lower healthcare costs for uninsured and low-income patients. The Campaign successfully negotiated a 35% discount for all uninsured patients in the Inova Health system and an increased number of bilingual personnel. In addition, TWU staff has worked with Inova service providers to eliminate over 1 million dollars in medical debt for low-income people. |  |
The annual Health Fair is in its 11th year and has grown to provide over 300 people from Northern Virginia with critical services such as vision, cholesterol, glucose, and HIV screening. We continue to host bimonthly health clinics at the TWU office in Arlandria and through a partnership with George Washington University are able to provide mamogram screenings for uninsured women. The next mamogram screenings will be on March 29, 2009. Space is limited. Please call Silvia: 703-684-5697*313 to make your appointment.