1. Center for New Community
A National organization advocating civil and human rights through community organizing, leadership building, and strategic research.
Develop relationships with rural religious leaders and congregations to address community issues.
Works nationally around concerns of immigrant populations.

2. Midwest Immigrant Health Project (MIHP)
Based in Missouri, Iowa, and (soon) Minnesota MN
A grassroots and congregation-based organizing approach to address immigrant-worker health issues and related social factors IA
Working in twelve rural meatpacking and poultry processing communities (four communities in each state). MO

3. MIHP Populations Served
Immigrant workers and their families, primarily Latinos who work in meat and poultry processing plants.
Native born workers of all backgrounds and families that have resided in the areas for a number of years.
Refugee populations who work alongside other immigrants in the processing plants.

4. Goals of MIHP
Create Health Action Councils comprised of immigrants and other vulnerable populations, to develop and implement plans to address the most pressing health issues in each community.
Increase access to and use of the respective local health care systems and services by immigrant workers and their families.
Improve services by health care providers to the Spanish-speaking (and/or other languages) population of the participating communities.
Identify and act on in-plant health and safety issues to be addressed by the vulnerable population with broad community support.

5. MIHP Case Study
An organizer working in Milan, Missouri since July 2007 established a relationship with the Milan Ministerial Alliance (comprised primarily of Anglo/European American clergy).
The Organizer facilitated an initial meeting between the MMA and Latino immigrants. This was the first time in many years that that the MMA had collaborated with Latino members of the community.
Through discussions with Latino immigrants productive dialogue ensued centered around the most pressing health care needs of the community.
Ongoing meetings are addressing the need for affordable food, housing, and transportation, all of which will help to increase access to adequate health care for vulnerable populations.