Making a Difference

The Latino Community Outreach ChangeLab functions to assist the local Latino community with their  needs. Students in this ChangeLab will create and oversee various projects as needs arise.

In the past, this ChangeLab has held two COVID-19 vaccination clinics, a breast cancer education event, and a breast cancer screening event offering free mammograms for Latinas. The ChangeLab students presented their research at a “Latino Healthcare” workshop to medical providers at Ascension St. Vincent, which included primary care representatives and managers, essentially all specialty practices, and urgent cares and clinics. ChangeLab students who are taking upper-level Spanish courses and/or are heritage speakers served as interpreters and translators for such events.

Besides a focus on healthcare, this ChangeLab also focuses on education. Students work with area organizations and schools where they can serve as instructors teaching basic Spanish vocabulary and Hispanic culture to elementary and middle school students in after-school programs in an effort to promote respect and multiculturalism. Another project is teaching English as a second language to adult Latinos after the Spanish mass at Holy Rosary on Sundays.

If you are interested in bringing people together and serving as an agent of change, and if you have studied Spanish in high school or college or are a native speaker, please consider signing up for the Latino Community Outreach ChangeLab.  You can take the course for 0, 1, 2, or 3 credit hours so that it works optimally in your schedule.