Board of Directors
Chair: DeAnne Messias
(2011-2013)
DeAnne Messias is a Brazilian American community health nursing researcher. She was a founding member of the South Carolina Hispanic/Latino Health Coalition and has served the organization as Chair of the Executive Committee (2006-2008), Chair of the Outreach and Advocacy Committee (2002 – 2005), and Treasurer (2001-2002). She currently chairs the Grants and Development Committee. DeAnne has extensive community experience in the area of healthcare access among limited English proficient Spanish speakers in South Carolina. Her community-based research activities include the formation of a community-based partnership to address priority health issues among Latinas, the South Carolina Partnership for Cancer Prevention. Findings from that project indicated the extent to which Latinas face barriers to preventive services and the need for an intervention to help limited English proficient Latinas access healthcare in the US. This led to the development and testing of the Language for Healthcare Access (LHA) curriculum, an educational intervention aimed at improving the ability of LEP Latino immigrants in SC to navigate the U.S. healthcare system in appropriate, cost-effective ways. She led the SCHLHC’s Latina Initiative grant from the American Cancer Society and South Carolina Cancer Alliance. The Latina Initiative is a community-based project that involves promotoras in cancer awareness education and healthcare system navigation to increase participation of Latinas in cancer screening in South Carolina. Her current research projects in clued ENLACE, a community-based intervention to increase the level of moderate physical activity among Mexican-origin women in the South Carolina midlands, and the Hispanic Health Research Network, a partnership between the South Carolina Hispanic/Latino Health Coalition, the University of South Carolina, and three clinical partners, to increase the capacity for Hispanic health research.
Past Chair: Deborah Billings
(2009-2011)
Debbie was elected as Chair of the Coalition and began her work in January 2009. She is a sociologist who has worked in public health issues in Latin America for the past 20 years. She has lived in Guatemala and Mexico, working with Ministries of Health, the United Nations and several non-governmental organizations to improve the health care services provided to women and adolescents, with a focus on sexual and reproductive health and reproductive justice. She aims to continue the excellent work of the Coalition, bringing together people from organizations throughout South Carolina to address the important needs of Latinas and Latinos in our state. She is also currently an Assistant Professor, with a joint appointment in Health Promotion, Education and Behavior in the Arnold School of Public Health and Women's and Gender Studies at the University of South Carolina. You can reach Debbie at her email address: deborahlbillings@yahoo.com.
Vice-Chair, Carl Maas
(2011-2013)
Secretary: Anna Walton
(2011-2013)
Treasurer: Maggie Ortiz (2011-2013)
Outreach Committee Chair: Rosa Diaz
(2011)
Community Liaison, Laura Cahue
(2011)
Communication Chair: Andrew Halbert
(2011)
Calendar of Events
Jun
3
Free Training
Ensuring Meaningful Access to Services for Latinos
Sexual Trauma Services of the Midlands invites you to a FREE training about Ensuring Meaningful Access to Services for Latinos/as on June 3, 2011 from 8:30 – 4:00pm in the Bill Rogers Community Connections Center in Columbia. The presenters are Ambar Hanson and Patti Tototzintle, Latina advocacy experts from Casa de Esperanza in St. Paul, MN. Register at stsm.org
Jun
11
Community Dine & Discuss: Dehydration
Time: 5:00 pm
Location: Iglesia de Cristo, 101 Ball Park Rd
This is a community event; therefore, it will be a Spanish-language event.