Health Inequities — Elvia Chavez

In 2022, the Colorado Equity Compass (CEC) awarded 20 organizations and community groups across Colorado $2,000 to share the stories of Colorado residents working to fight inequities related to the social determinants of health (SDOH), which determine an individual’s capacity for health, wellbeing and longevity.

This is a story product from CEC Awardee: Cesar Chavez Celebration of Mesa County. Dedicated in name and efforts to the work of civil rights leader and labor activist Cesar Chavez, the Cesar Chavez Celebration of Mesa County is an organization whose goal it is to assist farm workers and the overall community, diminishing the negative factors that can affect the SDOH.

Here, Señora Chavez discusses her youngest child who has down syndrome and the hardships she has had in receiving appropriate treatment and understanding around her child’s disability, as she does not speak English. She had to count on her other daughters to translate for her when she went to see her daughter’s Doctor and, at times, they were unable to translate everything that the doctor stated as the words were unknown to them.