FARM AID LAUNCHES SPANISH-LANGUAGE HOTLINE SUPPORT

USA - English

• USA - español

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- In partnership with Migrant Clinicians Network (MCN), and with funding from the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network – Northeast (led by Cultivemos), Farm Aid will be providing Spanish-language hotline support through the organization's new Spanish-speaking hotline operator, Elizabeth Gonzalez-Ibarra.

Gonzalez-Ibarra grew up in a Spanish-speaking household in a farming community and graduated from Texas State University with a B.A. in Spanish and a minor in public health. She currently answers MCN's hotline and will now be supporting calls on Farm Aid's Hotline from Spanish-speaking farmers and farmworkers, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET. Gonzalez-Ibarra hopes to make a difference within the Latinx community and has a passion for helping those in need, which has led her to where she is today.

"Migrant Clinicians Network is thrilled to partner with Farm Aid on this important initiative," said Renee AboAshe, program manager at MCN. "Making the Farm Aid Hotline's resources available to the Spanish-speaking farming community is one step toward dismantling entrenched inequities experienced by this community and can encourage people to seek assistance through mental health services."

Beginning and established farmers and farmworkers are encouraged to call the Farmer Hotline. Farm Aid's hotline operators are familiar with agriculture and with resources for farmers around the country; they work with hotline callers to find the best resources for their individual situation, whether they are looking for assistance with farm stress, financial issues, legal questions or business-related questions. The Farm Aid Hotline Staff has an existing database of Spanish resources and they are working to expand this database even further.

"This is a historic moment for Farm Aid; it's the first time in 37 years that we have been able to offer our farmer hotline services in Spanish," said Farm Aid's Hotline Program Manager Caitlin Arnold Stephano. "We are excited to collaborate with Migrant Clinicians Network on this important and timely effort and hope to better help Spanish-speaking farmers and farmworkers in need across the country."

If your organization has resources to include in Farm Aid's hotline database that would be helpful to Spanish-speaking farmers and farmworkers, please reach out to Stephano at [email protected]. Through the Farm Aid hotline and email service, Farm Aid's Hotline Staff refers farmers to an extensive network of family farm and rural support organizations across the country. All farmers can call the hotline at 1-800-FARM-AID (1-800-327-6243).

About Farm Aid: Farm Aid's mission is to build a vibrant, family farm-centered system of agriculture in America. Farm Aid artists and board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews and Margo Price host an annual festival to raise funds to support Farm Aid's work with family farmers and to inspire people to choose family farm food. For more than 35 years, Farm Aid, with the support of the artists who contribute their performances each year, has raised more than $64 million to support programs that help farmers thrive, expand the reach of the Good Food Movement, take action to change the dominant system of industrial agriculture and promote food from family farms. Learn more at www.farmaid.org.        

About Migrant Clinicians Network: Migrant Clinicians Network is a national 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that provides support, technical assistance and professional development to clinicians in community health centers, health departments and other health care delivery sites. Through online seminars and learning collaboratives, on-the-ground trainings, resource development and advocacy, MCN enables clinicians to provide quality health care, increase health care access and reduce disparities for people who need ongoing care but are experiencing outside forces that exacerbate their vulnerability. Learn more at www.migrantclinician.org.

SOURCE Farm Aid