Community Healing in Immigrant Populations Amidst COVID-19

A Place To Breathe Trailer from Michelle Grace Steinberg on Vimeo.

Documentary trailer screening and discussion about providing culturally responsive care in the midst of the current health crisis.Please join us to watch the new trailer for the upcoming documentary film A PLACE TO BREATHE (to be released this Summer 2020), which explores the universality of trauma, resilience, and healing in immigrant and refugee communities. This event features a discussion with representatives from Street Level Health Project in Oakland, CA and Lowell Community Health Center in Lowell, MA on the ways they have pivoted to continue providing culturally responsive care in the midst of the current public health crisis.

The speakers will be interspersed with a sneak peek of scenes from A PLACE TO BREATHE, which features health care practitioners and patients from both of the health centers. For more information about the film visit: aplacetobreathefilm.com.

The event will start at 4pm PDT/ 7pm EDT on Saturday, July 25th.

This online event is free, but donations to the impacted health centers are strongly encouraged.

Street Level Health Project’s COVID-19 Emergency Fund – help support Oakland’s Day Laborer community https://streetlevelhealth.networkforgood.com/projects/97144-street-level-covid-19-emergency-fund

Lowell Community Health Center – donate to the COVID-19 Fund: https://www.lchealth.org/about/donate/form

Guests:
Dr. Robert P. Marlin, MD, PhD, MPH
Chief, Metta Health Center, the multidisciplinary refugee and torture survivor clinic at the Lowell Community Health Center

Christelle Kalambayi
Certified Nurse Assistant, Metta Health Center/Lowell Community Health Center. Featured in the documentary film, A PLACE TO BREATHE

Gabriela Galicia
Executive Director, Street Level Health Project, a community center dedicated to improving the wellbeing of underinsured and recently arrived immigrants in Alameda County.

Michelle Grace Steinberg, M.S.
Director/Producer of documentary film, A PLACE TO BREATHE Nutritionist & Herbalist, Street Level Health Project

Maria Vicente
Mam Interpreter and Community Health Worker, Street Level Health Project

Edgar Salazar-Velazquez
Day Labor Employment Advocate, Street Level Health Project. Featured in the documentary film, A PLACE TO BREATHE

For more information about Street Level Health Project visit: streetlevelhealthproject.org

For more information about Lowell Community Health Center visit: lchealth.org

About the film:
A PLACE TO BREATHE explores the universality of trauma and resilience through the eyes of immigrant and refugee healthcare practitioners and patients. This feature-length documentary intertwines the personal journeys of those who are transcending their own obstacles by healing others. Combining cinema vérité and animation, the film highlights the creative strategies by which immigrant communities in the U.S. survive and thrive. The film weaves together the arcs of Rodrigue (DR Congo), Socheat (Cambodia), Norma (Guatemala), and the young couple Edgar and Yania (Mexico and Uruguay) as they pursue their dreams of supporting their communities’ healing. Their stories are anchored at two healthcare centers in Lowell, Massachusetts and Oakland, California. Each has its own model of “Whole Community” healthcare that provides powerful insight on culturally responsive, trauma-informed approaches that increase health equity. This is more critical than ever with the devastating effects that COVID-19 is having on communities of color and immigrant populations. In an increasingly xenophobic political climate, A PLACE TO BREATHE observes the protagonists’ challenges and successes, exposing the emotional resilience that is required for long-term survival and healing.