El Ballet Folklorico Estudiantil and Latinos United for Flint

With funding from the Health Impact Project, a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts, NCHH awarded 15 $5,000 Lead Poisoning Awareness Community Mini-Grants in 2017. These grants were for community events focused on raising awareness, engaging community leaders in advocacy, or motivating policy change around lead poisoning prevention.

As a mini-grantee, El Ballet Folklorico Estudiantil participated with other organizations that make up Latinos United for Flint (Hispanic Tech Center, Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, American GI Forum, St. Mary’s Church, and the Luna Pantry) to attend five community events. The group provided at least two official translators for each event, available to speak to parents and community members regarding the updated resources available in the community for them in response to the ongoing lead-water crisis. The group also translated national lead poisoning prevention documents into Spanish for attendees to take home. The community events involved were:
• The Backpack Giveaway at the Hispanic Tech Center;
• The Flint Hispanic Festival;
• The Richfield Public School Academy Parent Night (and ongoing engagement within the after-school arts and cultural programs);
• The Hispanic Health Fair at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church;
• And the semester final presentation, also at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.

The groups involved in this effort were able to reach a population that had been underserved in the wake of the Flint water crisis, and provide much-needed information and resources. Approximately 2500 people were reached through this process and informed about lead poisoning prevention.