Tackling Health Disparities with Teamwork

Latino community-based organization PASOs has successfully teamed up with like-minded groups to provide greater health access to Latino communities in South Carolina. The program has a longstanding partnership with the University of South Carolina's Arnold School of Public Health and operates out of its university campus headquarters in Columbia. Starting in the fall of 2022, as part of its flu and COVID-19 vaccine outreach in low-income Hispanic communities, PASOs began collaborating with PRISMA Health and Foodshare of South Carolina to combine vaccine education with food give-away. At each of PASOs’ bi-monthly vaccine outreach events, families attending received culturally appropriate education and adapted food boxes, as well as COVID-19 testing kits and referrals for flu and COVID-19 vaccinations.  During the first 6 months of this campaign, PASOs supported 300 families, resulting in more than 150 individuals receiving one or both vaccines. “It is a teamwork effort and it always will be,” said PASOs staff member Agner Muñoz.