Stories from our Partners


Kids at Next Door, Inc.

Latino children comprise more than 50% of the students in some schools

Nuestra Voz, Nuestra Salud - Our Voice, Our Health

From our related Focus Area: Healthy Eating, Active Living

Hood River County has the highest proportion of Latino population for any Oregon county, many of whom harvest and process the orchard crops from the Hood River Valley. In some of the county’s elementary schools, Latino children comprise more than 50% of the students.

In the late 1980s, the region’s growing Latino population founded Nuestra Communidad Sana (NCS) to address the health priorities of migrant and seasonal farmworkers.

In 2006 and 2007, the Northwest Health Foundation awarded grants to NCS and their partners at Next Door Inc. to fund La Voz Latina del Mid-Columbia, a community assessment and leadership development project. After the thorough community assessment that included 160 adults and 180 youth in focus groups and one-on-one interviews, obesity and diabetes emerged as the top health concerns for Latinos in Hood River County.

In 2009, we were very pleased to be able to provide additional funding of over $95,000 for “Nuestra Voz, Nuestra Salud” - to mobilize community action and influence policies and environments that affect opportunities for healthy eating and daily physical activity in this diverse and scenic part of Oregon.


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