AmeriCorps Member - Community Health Information Specialist

Healthy Communities AmeriCorps Program

Healthy Communities is CHC's AmeriCorps program designed to create cohesion in communities and to promote healthcare and support services through outreach, awareness, linkage to care and support. Healthy Communities also serves to identify the unique and integral needs of our communities and neighborhoods and to establish strategic plans to address them. Service delivery will directly address the public health crisis in vulnerable communities and make healthcare and support services accessible through flexible delivery of services. AmeriCorps members will conduct community outreach, education, patient engagement, and link patients to CHCI care and referrals to community based assistance. Additionally, AmeriCorps members will participate in statewide and local activities which promote awareness of health and health services.

This is an AmeriCorps Member role – Community Health Information Specialist – that supports Behavioral Health Department at the Stamford and Norwalk site.

Terms & Program Benefits:

• One-year service term from September 8, 2026 thru August 31, 2027
• Serve a minimum of 33 hours a week for a total of 1700 hours during service year
• $25,000 stipend over the course of one year, paid bi-weekly
• An education award of $7,395 at the end of successful service term completion
• This is not a staff position.

This is the opportunity for you if you:

• Are highly outgoing, friendly, enthusiastic, and creative
• Enjoy working with others and public speaking
• Are extremely organized and pay great attention to detail
• Have a strong interest in BIPOC health care issues
• Thrive in a fast paced environment
• Can take initiative and work independently as well as part of a team

As a Community Health Information Specialist for the Community Health Center, Inc., you will:

• Conduct monthly patient health education workshops; monitor the completion of pre-post surveys by workshop participants; and complete data entry for workshops and surveys.
• Track and document all completed patient engagement activities in patient's electronic health record.
• Provide care coordination to patients who are having access challenges that cannot be resolved by other team members.
• Assist patients with completing their Recovery In Action (RIA) plans.
• Coordinate enhanced health promotion and education program for mind, body, and food connection with Fairgate farms in Stamford to extend to other farms/community partners such as in Norwalk.
• Assist with establishment of mental well being programming that targets the CHCI patients and under-resourced community members by creating patient friendly teaching curriculum/pamphlets, marketing, recruitment tools and materials about the mind, body, and food connections.
• Promote and recruit participants for patient information sessions, education sessions and activities as well as coordinate facilitation of these events.
• Create a comprehensive resource guide on how to find healthy and affordable foods in lower Fairfield County area.
• Build community partnerships with local community gardens, farms, and organizations to promote and create awareness of mind, body, and food connection.
• Facilitate a community and/or patient focus group related to BH care for the BIPOC population for which the findings with assistance from the Chief Psychiatry Officer to the psychiatry team.
• Develop statewide community resource list for behavioral health patients that provides enhanced resources and referral organizations that can address identified patient's social determinants of health (SDOH).
• Create user friendly content for patients and community partners/organizations (ie, hospitals, churches, community centers) on how to access behavioral health services at CHC.
• Conduct community partner presentations to promote CHC mental health and substance use disorder services and treatments.
• Develop community partnerships to educate local communities on awareness of mental illness in the black community and collaborate with them on events to host.
• Establish a process for conducting community awareness and facilitation of trainings for Stamford/Norwalk adolescents to be trained in basics of NAMI, QPR or other programs that provide knowledge of recognizing a mental health challenge and ways to seek out assistance (referrals/treatment).
• Participate in quality improvement strategies to identify gaps in care for BH patients and new workflows to improve the completion of needed services (e.g. referrals and assessments).
• Participate in and develop presentations for team meetings to provide updates on engagement strategies and success of events, activities and workshops.

Qualifications:

• High school or equivalent required
• Proficiency in Microsoft office and internet-related applications
• Excellent time management and organizational skills
• Excellent oral and written skills
• Demonstrated ability to problem solve and remain calm during a crisis
• Successful clearance of all required criminal history checks (NSCHC)
• Able to travel between CHC sites and in state

Preferred:

• Associate's degree in public health, social work related field
• Experience in health care
• Willing to work with the BIPOC population
• Bilingual English/Spanish
• Experience in project management or curriculum creation

Organization Information:

Community Health Center, Inc. (CHC), with offices in Connecticut, Colorado and California, is one of the country's most creative and dynamic providers of primary medical, dental, and behavioral health services, and a leader in practice-based research, health professionals training, and use of innovative technologies to advance health and healthcare. CHC is designated as a federally qualified health center and a patient-centered medical home by HRSA, the Joint Commission, and NCQA, respectively. We deliver more than 600,000 patient visits per year from primary care hubs and community clinics across the state of CT, all connected by technology and common standards for quality. We employ several hundred medical, dental, and behavioral health providers who are engaged in practice, teaching, and research. Our Weitzman Institute is devoted to research and practice transformation and is recognized around the country as one of the premier research institutes focused on improving health care and health outcomes for special and vulnerable populations. In addition, the organization has developed three wholly owned subsidiaries from the original pilot developments within the Weitzman Institute: the National Nurse Practitioner Residency and Fellowship Training Consortium (NNPRFTC), the National Institute for Medical Assistant Advancement (NIMAA), and ConferMed.

Location:

Community Health Center of Stamford - 5th Street

City:

Stamford

State:

Connecticut

Time Type:

Part time