The State of the State for Washington Latinos

Washington’s Representatives are concern about America’s economy. MONEY was a constant theme in all of our conversations. Where should the money go? Where cuts should be made?

The Governor’s Interagency Council on Health Disparities spoke to us about their model of health care. Often times it seems as though health care is about tests, doctors, vaccines, insurance, nutrition among other direct health services; however, it reality health care is much more than that. Health is affected by our immediate surroundings (e.g. quality of home), organizations (e.g. school), communities (e.g. neighborhood), and affected by our society (e.g. public policy).

Therefore, essentially the wellbeing of an individual is really the well-being of a society. At this point I realized how important policies are. Providing the tools and the resources for communities is imperative in order for the whole community to succeed.

The challenge is in identifying the tools that are most effective and efficient in order to financially support those tools. Research is needed for this. However, the research that is necessary is lacking, especially research concerning minorities. The resources available for our government to rely on are limited.

My trip to Olympia made me realize the significance of doing this type of research in order to support and create movement towards certain policies that will reflect the need present in our communities. Latinos are the fastest growing population of the United Sates and their needs are not being met. The well being of the Latinos is the well being of the whole community.