By Cassie Baker
Neybe’s passion has always been helping people—but in 2023, she knew she could do more.
Neybe is a Community Health Worker (CHW) with Ethiopian Tewahedo Social Services (ETSS) who discovered she could use the power an app to get essential services to those who need them most.
It all started when Franklin County Public Health (FCPH) received funding in 2021 from the Community Health Workers for Covid Response and Resilient Communities grant (CCR 2109) to address health disparities, educate communities about COVID-19 and boost vaccine rates. The grant funding supports communitywide efforts to connect Franklin County residents with Community Health Workers (CHWs).
As a part of the grant, FCPH contracted with four other local organizations to hire four Community Health Workers (CHWs) that provide culturally responsive services in Franklin County. One of those organizations was ETSS, who hired Neybe as their CHW in December of 2020. ETSS is a community-based organization that has helped new arrivals from more than 80 countries establish roots and gain self-sufficiency in Central Ohio with programs and services.
Neybe moved to Franklin County and originally started as a Crisis Counselor with ETSS. When a Community Health Worker position became available, Neybe felt that applying for the position was a natural next step in assisting her community members and would allow her to have a wider reach in providing resources to those in need.
It was obvious to Neybe, as a community resident and Spanish-speaker, that a different approach was needed to reach Spanish-speaking communities. Print resources and program guides from other agencies were not always in Spanish and were not reaching enough people. Also, there are still agencies that don’t have Spanish language interpreters available for clients in Franklin County.
Drawing on what she knew, Neybe implemented a plan to contact a larger number of people in the community and ensure that residents were linked to essential resources like housing, food pantries and healthcare.
The approach that Neybe took was to create social groups on an app called What’sApp to connect residents to those essential resources.
What’sApp is an app popular in Mexico and many South-American countries, and is widely used by many of the Spanish-speakers in central Ohio. It allows users to make calls and send texts to others without the need for a phone plan. Only Wi-Fi is needed to use the app, and it can be downloaded for free. Within the app, users coin join message groups with other users, similar to text messaged-based group chats. Neybe quickly decided to form a group on the app for people needing essential services.
Community members were directed by Neybe to the group to learn about available resources, and she provides information about CHW services through the CCR 2109 funding.
The original group quickly grew into 50 people in five different groups, each with a different topic, including one for jobs, healthcare and general resources. Members of the group shared the group to other members of the community, and now more than 350 people are members of Neybe’s groups on What’sApp. An estimated eight people a week join the groups.
These groups are closed, so people who want to join the group must first request to do so and answer what zip code they live in so that Neybe can be sure they are local.
The What’sApp groups have become an invaluable way for community members to connect and get culturally specific resources, education and peer support in an accessible format.
The impact of Neybe’s work in the community has been enormous. In June 2023, Neybe was able to provide outreach to over 4,000 Franklin County residents. This was possible through the What’sApp group and additional community outreach efforts spearheaded by ETSS.
“Neybe is a compassionate advocate for her community,” said Denise L. Martin, the Community Health and Wellness Manager for ETSS.
“Her passion and integrity to ensure her clients, families and community have Culturally & Linguistically Appropriate education, referrals, resources and information are life changing,” she added.
Seeing the impact Neybe has made through the WhatsApp groups makes it obvious how beneficial it is for the community to have a CHW that understands them and knows how to empower them in the most accessible way.
CCR 2109 efforts in Franklin County have made a difference in the lives of many residents and have allowed neighborhood agencies (like Ethiopian Tewahedo Social Services) to combat COVID 19 at the community level and attempt to eliminate health disparities that affect COVID outcomes while educating the people they serve.
Cassie Baker is a CHW Program Coordinator with FCPH. Outside of work, she’s known for her excellent cooking and loves caring for her two cats.