 | | | Friend, welcome to Health Equity Solutions' monthly newsletter! | | Happy Holidays from all of us at HES! | | | |  | In this season of gratitude, all of us at Health Equity Solutions wanted to say, "Thanks for Giving"! Because of you, 2025 was a year of real, measurable progress for health equity and your generosity made it all possible. Together, we pushed for fairer health policies, elevated community voices in decision-making, and helped ensure that more people regardless of who they are or where they live have access to the care they deserve. | | | | | | | | | | | | Special Session Recap: Housing, Health Infrastructure, and More This month, the Connecticut General Assembly held a two-day special session to vote on four bills that addressed housing, health infrastructure, federal funding risk, and miscellaneous protections/administration provisions. | | **HES will continue to advocate for funding to be directed to health coverage and access.** | | | | | | ICYMI: - Connecticut Health Equity Dashboard has been released! This tool is intended to assist community-based healthcare providers, organizations, and policymakers in assessing and mitigating inequities. View dashboard, HERE.
- DataHaven unveiled the results of its latest DataHaven Community Wellbeing Survey (DCWS). The survey creates a portrait of residents’ health, economic stability, and community life through interviews with randomly-selected adults in every Connecticut ZIP Code. View survey results, HERE.
| | | | | | | | 2025 Community Conversations on Health Equity Health Equity Solutions engaged 348 residents across 34 Connecticut towns to learn directly from community members about their experiences with health inequities and their ideas for change. Through conversations and surveys, residents identified key priorities that shaped HES’s 2026 Policy Agenda. Top Community Priorities: Access to Care (70%); Comprehensive, Quality, and Unbiased Care (67%); Environmental, Social, & Systemic Challenges (55%); Affordability (51%) and Language Equity (22%). These conversations highlight the real barriers Connecticut residents face from affording care to navigating biased systems and the community-driven solutions needed to advance health equity statewide. For more information, read the full report or reach out to Megan Scharrer at mscharrer@hesct.org. | | | | | | | | Become a Health Equity Ambassador in 2026 Are you ready to take action toward anti-racist policies and community health equity in Connecticut? The Health Equity Ambassador Program is seeking passionate individuals who want to develop hands-on skills in community organizing, policy advocacy and mobilizing neighbors for change. Program includes: weekly training, a stipend, food and interpretation services. Applications are open now — please apply by your county’s deadline to join a regional cohort. - Greater Hartford County: 12/08/2025
- Greater Fairfield County: 1/05/2026
- Greater New Haven County: 2/02/2026
- Greater Middlesex County: 3/02/2026
| | | | | | Applications Now Open: Hartford - CARE Program Health Leaders 2026! Do you know or are you an adult (18+) in Hartford interested in promoting health equity and making a positive impact on your community? The CARE Health Leaders Program offers a paid 9-month fellowship. Participants learn about health equity, the social drivers of health, advocacy, project planning, and leadership development. Fellows meet twice a month in person in the Hartford area on Wednesdays (5:30–7:30 PM, from January to September 2026) and work together in small groups to create grassroots projects that address real health issues in their communities. Past initiatives have included community gardens, health fairs, mental health events, neighborhood walks, and more. No prior experience needed, just commitment and a passion for your community. 📅 Application Deadline: January 2, 2026 📍 Location: To be announced 📝 Apply in just 10–15 minutes! | | | | | | | | Celebrating Connecticut’s Community Health Workers HES and the HES Advantage were proud to support the Community Renewal Team (CRT) in hosting its inaugural Community Health Worker Conference on November 7, 2025. The event honored Community Health Workers (CHWs), trusted professionals who play an essential role in advancing health equity across Connecticut. CRT recently certified more than 60 new CHWs, with support from the Health Education Center and funding from the Department of Social Services. The conference highlighted CHWs’ critical work in bridging gaps in care, strengthening community trust, and addressing the root causes of health disparities. The day focused on equipping CHWs with practical tools, fostering peer connection, and supporting ongoing professional development—investments that strengthen the entire healthcare ecosystem. We are deeply grateful to CRT for its partnership and for entrusting us to help bring this inaugural event to life. HES remains committed to uplifting and investing in CHWs so they can continue making meaningful impacts in the communities they serve. | | | | | | Advancing CHW Medicaid Reimbursement in Connecticut On November 6, Southwestern AHEC, in partnership with Health Equity Solutions, the Connecticut Association for Community Action (CAFCA), and the Community Health Center Association of Connecticut (CHC ACT) with support from the Connecticut Health Foundation, hosted the Advancing CHW Medicaid Reimbursement Summit in Rocky Hill. The event brought together advocates from across the state to strengthen the movement to improve Medicaid reimbursement for community health workers. HES Deputy Director Karen Siegel and Policy & Advocacy Manager Duwa Amin provided an update on current CHW advocacy efforts and outlined key next steps for Connecticut. We extend our sincere thanks to Southwestern AHEC for convening this important and timely conversation. | | | | | | Advancing Integrated Care for Youth and Families On November 19, Clifford Beers hosted Follow the Yellow Brick Road – Care Coordination, Community Health Workers, Peer Counselors, Oh My! at the State Capitol, bringing together leaders committed to strengthening care coordination for youth and families and building a system that supports whole-person health. HES Policy & Advocacy Manager Duwa Amin joined the event as a panelist, offering insights on how Connecticut can advance integrated, community-driven care that meets the needs of children and families. We extend our gratitude to Clifford Beers Community Care Center and the Integrated Care for Kids (InCK) team for convening this important conversation and launching what promises to be a vital, ongoing dialogue. | | | | | | | | | | We love to highlight the work of our partners and interesting events in the health equity neighborhood. Have content to contribute? Fill out this form. We're eager to learn about what you're working on. Know someone who might be interested in receiving our newsletter? Share this subscription link! | | Maternal Health Equity: A Blueprint for Connecticut Connecticut is one of the best states in the nation to give birth, yet stark inequities persist. Black women are twice as likely as white women to experience severe maternal morbidity. A new statewide blueprint, developed by researchers, clinicians, community representatives, and residents, lays out evidence-based strategies to cut these life-threatening complications among Black women by 50% over the next three years. While focused on those at highest risk, the recommendations aim to strengthen maternal health outcomes for all Connecticut families. | | | | | | National SPEAK UP Champion™ Implicit and Explicit Racial Bias Education - January 9 & 16, 2026 Are you working in perinatal care and aiming to lead change? Don’t miss the upcoming SPEAK UP Champion Conference — a powerful two-day virtual event designed to help practitioners, team leads, and QI professionals deepen their ability to eliminate implicit and explicit bias in perinatal care and build actionable quality improvement plans. Join the SPEAK UP Champion Conference January 2026
Friday, January 9 & Friday, January 16 · 9:30 AM – 1:30 PM ET
Hosted by Perinatal Quality Foundation | | | | | | | | A Roadmap to Fully Funded Communities - December 3 The Connecticut Voices for Children is hosting a series of community conversations where they'll share new research on the State’s fiscal controls (or what politicians are calling “fiscal guardrails”) that will shed light on how Connecticut can raise revenue to invest in all of our children and families. This event is free and will include dinner, child care, and translation services. | | | | | | 28-Day Anti-Racisim Challenge - February 2026 The Institute for Perinatal Quality Improvement (PQI) invites you to participate in a meaningful month-long journey aimed at advancing anti-racism in perinatal care. What to expect: - A daily email delivered throughout February with a short action, reflection, or learning prompt focused on dismantling both implicit and explicit biases.
- A framework that encourages speaking up, actively engaging, and building genuine respect as part of the broader “SPEAK UP” pathway for perinatal equity.
- Flexible engagement designed for busy professionals who want to integrate anti-racism work into their everyday practice and mindset.
| | | | | | | | | | Stay informed about the latest developments in health equity, social determinants of health, racial justice, and more! Every week, we feature relevant news articles and reports on our social media. Check out a few highlights below: | | - Access Health CT Holds Enrollment Fairs Throughout December: Access Health CT is offering free, in-person enrollment fairs across Connecticut this December to help residents choose or renew health and dental coverage ahead of the key Dec. 15 deadline for Jan. 1, 2026 benefits. With locations in 10 cities and expanded support including Navigators, a Mobile Enrollment Team, and extended call-center hours, residents can get personalized guidance during Open Enrollment. Appointments for each fair can be booked at AccessHealthCT.com. Read the full story, HERE.
- How one CT clinic is addressing racial disparities in maternal care: A new Hamden-based practice, Enrich Health, is reimagining maternal care to confront persistent racial disparities in outcomes for Black mothers and babies. Founded by obstetrician Monique Rainford and Andrea Lee, the clinic uses evidence-based strategies to better support expectant mothers most at risk. Their work comes as Black women in the U.S. continue to face maternal mortality rates more than three times higher than white women, gaps driven not by income or education, but by systemic racism within traditional health care. Read the full story, HERE.
| | | | | | | | Health Equity Solutions
53 Oak Street | Hartford, Connecticut 06106
860.461.7637 | info@hesct.org | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
