Policy Studies candidate Tania Santiago addresses COVID-19 impact on Latinx Community

Recognizing the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the Latinx community in Washington State, MA in Policy Studies candidate Tania Santiago mobilized friends and knowledge learned in her policy studies practicum to develop COVID-19 Social Media Resources in Spanish.

In addition to being a full-time student in the Policy Studies program, Tania is a UWB/GO-MAP Racial Equity Scholarship recipient and Executive Legislative Aid to King County Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles).

COVID-19 Social Media Resources in Spanish responds to the gap in services and timely information available in Spanish. You can find them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as Latinx Community Response on COVID-19 in WA State @walatinxcovid19.

Tania writes: “We are posting COVID-19 info, news, and resources all in Spanish. We will also be doing weekly interviews with subject matter experts on different COVID-19 topics including access to healthcare, childcare for essential workers, domestic violence resources, and small business loans among other topics all in Spanish! Next week we already have interviews lined up with a nurse from Seattle and a Healthplanfinder Project Coordinator from Yakima. We are really trying to make this state wide!”

If you know anyone who would benefit from these resources, please share in the information. They also welcome further resources for translation and posting (lcr.wa.2020@gmail.com)

Tania credits the techniques learned from Professor Charlie Collins in the BPOLST 513 Practicum in Policy Studies class last quarter. She writes that, “Thanks to our community partnership last quarter I knew right away that in order to reach more Latinx community members we needed to be bilingual, use Instagram to reach youth, and that eventually we need to turn to WhatsApp or some sort of texting service so we can reach older generations.”