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North Hempstead & Adelphi U. Reach out to Non-English Speaking Population with Emergency Preparedness Campaign


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
 November 27, 2017
MEDIA CONTACTS: Carole Trottere, Rebecca Cheng, Sam Marksheid, and Vicki DiStefano | (516) 869-7794

North Hempstead & Adelphi U. Reach out to Non-English Speaking Population with Emergency Preparedness Campaign

North Hempstead, NY – – Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth and the Adelphi University Center for Health Innovation (CHI) recently expanded a joint public awareness campaign aimed at informing non-English speaking service workers how to prepare for man-made and natural disasters, including hurricanes. The first wave of the campaign began in 2016 and focused on nail salon employees. More recently the campaign has reached out to non-English speaking restaurant and hotel employees in the Town of North Hempstead who are in need of this critical information.

The public education outreach distributes translated packets of emergency preparedness information compiled by the Town and Adelphi’s CHI. The translations include Spanish, Vietnamese, Mandarin and Korean.

Students and staff from the Adelphi serve as the “boots on the ground” for the educational campaign and visited 122 of 341 restaurants located in the Town of North Hempstead, distributing 502 translated packets to restaurant workers. Packets were also mailed to some establishments and as well as all hotels in the Town.

“I am very pleased to continue our work with Adelphi and now expand our emergency preparedness outreach to non-English speaking restaurant and hotel employees,” said Supervisor Bosworth. “This initiative has reached out to a vulnerable segment of our population and helped to make them safer. Ensuring that everyone is prepared in the event of an emergency is critical to the health and safety of those who live and work in the Town.”

“This outreach initiative was very well received and owners were pleased to be able to distribute the information,” said Meghan McPherson, MPP, CEM, assistant director for the Adelphi University CHI. “During disasters, such as Superstorm Sandy, workers in service industries are left vulnerable and need information in their native language to keep their families safe. Context is lost when it is only available in English. This information is helpful for business owners in service industries. They are more likely to either remain open or return to business faster with a prepared staff.”

According to the CHI, The Garden City Hotel requested 475 emergency preparedness packets in various languages to have available for both their kitchen, housekeeping, and facilities staff.

With the additional outreach just completed plus the previous visits to nail salons, 482 service industry businesses in the Town of North Hempstead have been contacted and 1660 packets of preparedness information in native languages have been provided.

For more information on hurricane preparedness and to view a public service announcement please log on to http://northhempsteadny.gov/ready
Or call 311.


To view the PSA in Spanish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRpY4_o0orM
To view the PSA in Mandarin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-PvxdzoONU
To view the PSA in Korean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP_QG3pN3FI
To view the PSA in Vietnamese: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5MBcFsX2-I&feature=youtu.be

About Adelphi University Center for Health Innovation

Adelphi University’s Center for Health Innovation (CHI) is the primary resource in our region for innovative, multidisciplinary, evidence-based responses to improving health, healthcare systems, and public health. CHI creates and fosters community-focused, interdisciplinary academic programming, applied research, community partnerships, and leadership—all with the goal of meeting current and emergent health needs of Long Island and our region. Find out more at chi.adelphi.edu.


From left are Meghan McPherson, assistant director for the Adelphi University Center for Health Innovation; North Hempstead Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth; Sabrina McCormack, Human Resources Coordinator for the Garden City Hotel and hotel employees Godofredo Cruz and Vincent Escobar.


  

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