Promoviendo el bienestar en nuestra comunidad latina

press release: Te invitamos a participar en la sesión en vivo, Promoviendo el bienestar en nuestra comunidad latina, el miércoles, 29 de julio a las 3:00 p.m., en Facebook Live. El Dr. Armando Hernández Morales, director de salud integrada del Distrito Escolar Metropolitano de Madison (MMSD, por sus siglas en inglés) y las panelistas invitadas, responderán a preguntas comunes relacionadas con COVID-19 y la comunidad hispana. Esta sesión se llevará a cabo en español y estarán presentes: Fabiola Hamdan, supervisora de asuntos de inmigración del Departamento de Servicios Humanos del Condado Dane; Karen Menéndez Coller, directora ejecutiva del Centro Hispano del Condado Dane; y, Rissel Sanderson, del programa Juega y Aprende del MMSD. Estas líderes locales ofrecerán sus perspectivas sobre cómo sobrellevar la vida diaria durante la pandemia del COVID-19; además, compartirán los recursos que hay en la ciudad para apoyar al bienestar de nuestra comunidad durante esta pandemia.

Durante la presentación, escribe tus preguntas en la sección de comentarios y nuestros expertos las contestarán en vivo y en directo.

Biografías en inglés:

Karen Menéndez Coller:

Karen Menéndez Coller received her Masters in Public Health from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and her PhD in public health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Originally from El Salvador, her passion for over 20 years has centered on how community-based programs can successfully improve trajectories for Latino families in the US. To this aim she has worked in multiple sectors, including state, local government, and academia. Before taking on her role as Executive Director of Centro Hispano of Dane County, she was faculty at UCLA. Karen took over as Executive Director of Centro Hispano of Dane County in September 2013. Centro is the largest organization in Dane County with a mission focusing on holistically fostering a thriving Latino community in WI. She received the Inaugural Nan Cheney Award for Social Justice from Forward Community Investments and was also named the National Hispanic Heritage Foundation Leadership Award Recipient for the State of Wisconsin in 2017.

Fabiola Hamdan:

Fabiola Hamdan is the first Immigration Affairs Supervisor with the Dane County Department of Human Services. She provides outreach and resources to immigrants and refugee communities in Dane County in order to support integration through coordination of County services.

She has a Master’s degree in Social Work from UW Madison and eighteen years of experience as a Community Social Worker. She is a strong advocate for the Latinx community having help created numerous organizations, programs and initiatives to support immigrants in the Latino community such as the Latino Support Group LaSup, El Dia de Los Niños, Latino Children and Families Council, Latino Professional Association, to name a few.

Hamdan’s important work in the Madison community has been recognized numerous times. She received the National Association of Social Workers – Distinguished Service Award (2003), Village People Water Bearer Award (2006), Rainbow Project – Extra Mile Award (2007), Business Forum ATHENA Award (2007), Madison College Community Councils of Color (2010), YWCA Women of Distinction (2011), Muriel Pipkins Award (Mentoring Positives) (2012), McDowell Alumni Achievement Award (2013), United Way Volunteer Award (2015), and La Movida’s Making a Difference Award (2016), School of Social Work Distinguished Field Supervisor Award (2017), and Si Se Puede2017: The Most Powerful Latinos in Wisconsin. United Way 2020 Women United Philanthropy Award (2020)

Fabiola’s public service and civic involvement includes Dane County Equal Opportunity Commission, Member (2004 – 2009) and Police and Fire Commission, Commissioner (2009 – Present).

Rissel Sanderson:

My name is Rissel Sanderson. I am originally from La Paz, Bolivia. Spanish is my first language. My family and I moved from Bolivia to Madison in 1985 due to my mother’s medical condition, which was a fairly long treatment and so we decided to remain in theremain the United States. I graduated from James Madison Memorial High School in 1989 and graduated with a degree on Early Childhood Education from Madison College in 1991. I was married and moved to Minneapolis, where I worked with children at a nursery school. Then I moved to Dothan Alabama and worked in a preschool before moving to Illinois and continuing to work in a bilingual classroom with 4 and 5-year-olds.

Finally, I returned to Madison Wisconsin, and become involved with the Latinx community and was part of the MATC Early Childhood Education Advisory Committee (ECE), the Dane County Latino Children and Families Council (LCFCL), Madison Children’s’ Museum sub-committee, Madison Public Library board, and the Centro Hispano board. I worked at Head Start for five years, again with children aged 4 to 5 years old. I was granted the opportunity to work with the Madison Metropolitan School District at a program called Play and Learn, which continues to be my current employment with this being my twelfth year. Play and Learn is a free-of-charge program for children birth to five-years-old and their parents or caregivers who reside in the Madison school district. The program is designed for children who are not already participating in similar programs. Children learn early math, literacy, and social skills through play, which I believe is very important in that it provides every child the opportunity to grow in unique and important ways whether those are social, emotional, physical, cognitive, or language. I am always thankful for being given the opportunity to be a part of so many children and their families’ lives.