FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 15, 2021
Contact: Kali Cohn, 972-638-7438, kcohn@hrionline.org
DALLAS – On March 15, 2021, Human Rights Initiative of North Texas (HRI), a Dallas-area non-profit organization, launched a multi-lingual healthcare navigator tool. The webpage and hotline will help immigrants and refugees living in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex find affordable medical care, dental care and mental healthcare.
“Now it is easier to find places you can go for health services and look up the information you will need to qualify for care, regardless of your immigration status,” said Karen De La Cruz, another of the HRI Connect leaders involved in creating the navigator. “It doesn’t matter where you are from—you can find the healthcare you need. I hope the people who see this feel like they are supported.”
Community members seeking healthcare resources can visit https://bit.ly/DFW-help or call 469-444-7070 for resources in English, Arabic, French, and Spanish. The resources include lists of free and reduced cost medical, dental, and mental health clinics; steps to take if someone suspects or confirms they have COVID-19; and explanations about how to register for the COVID-19 vaccination.
“Being uninsured or unable to pay for basic health needs is very scary,” said Reem Daboul, one of the HRI Connect leaders involved in creating the navigator. “On top of being sick, you are in a constant state of worry about how much the visit will cost—whether you are going to be able to pay for extra labs or imaging, the prescriptions and the follow-up. To ease some of the worry people might experience, HRI Connect felt it was important to compile a list of resources offering affordable or cheap healthcare.”
This is the first major initiative of HRI Connect, a group of HRI clients and loved ones who have banded together to ensure that everyone in their communities can live full, authentic, and vibrant lives in the United States. The group envisions a future where anyone in the DFW area can get and afford the healthcare they need, regardless of immigration status.
“The HRI Connect leaders are taking change into their own hands,” said Kali Cohn, HRI’s Community Education and Advocacy Director. “Healthcare should be a human right, but the system has been leaving their families behind. By helping their fellow community members find the resources that are available to them, they are laying the foundation to expand access to care.”
Community members can share the word about the healthcare navigator through HRI Connect’s multi-lingual, 2-minute explainer video, available on Facebook or YouTube. The video, which features local Dallas actors and storytellers Rania Alahmad, Maryam Baig, Stormi Demerson, and Frida Espinosa Muller, was filmed and produced by Dallas-based GratiFILM and animated by NY-based Ana Maria Polo Trujillo.
About Human Rights Initiative of North Texas
For the past 20 years, Human Rights Initiative of North Texas has provided legal and critical social services for immigrant survivors of human rights abuses from all over the world. HRI Connect is a group of current and former HRI clients who believe in building a community where everyone feels welcomed and embraced, regardless of who we are, what we look like, or how well we speak English. For more information, visit www.hrionline.org.
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