Sunsetting Programming: HRSA-funded CHW Training & Apprenticeship Program

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Goodbyes are never easy…

Since BHT began, we have believed in the power of the community based workforce to support our mission to radically improve the health of the region. Many of you remember our work actually began with our first insurance navigation contract working with a community based workforce who had the trust of their communities, and we continued that work with programs like Hot Spotters and Trusted Messengers. Our work to invest in a community-based workforce has evolved to include strategies to improve the economic and social well-being of the community-based workforce.

In 2022, Better Health Together (BHT) was selected to receive a highly competitive Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) Community Health Worker training grant. The purpose of this three-year grant was to support the expansion of the Community Health Worker (CHW) workforce in Adams, Ferry, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Spokane, and Stevens Counties.

The training program provided professional development opportunities for Community Health Workers (both new and existing) and aimed to support the growing CHW workforce. It also put us in a unique position to test a model that provided stipends so participants could expand their skills and still support their families. Since 2022, BHT has worked with training partners to provide either core or additional professional development for 157+ New CHWs and 53 Existing “Upskill” CHWs.

The program has also helped given us a platform to continue to advocate for CHWs as a certified and recognized occupation, bring awareness to the impact of CHWs on communities they serve, and the importance of working with someone you trust who reflects your values and culture. In 2024, BHT joined a national movement to recognize the CHWs in our region through our first ever awareness campaign. In 2025, Kim Wilson, BHT staff member and Community Health Worker Training Program Manager, was also selected to join over 100 Community Health Workers (CHW) at a national conference in Washington DC to bring continued awareness to CHWs and oppose cuts to Medicaid.

While the HRSA-funded training program will sunset in September 2025, our commitment to the community based workforce is far from over. We wanted to take a moment to share opportunities to stay involved or become trained as a CHW.

Get Involved: Training Opportunities

For Washington State residents, the Department of Health facilitates the CHW Core Competence course. You can find out more information by visiting here.

In Fall of 2025, Better Health Together will also be offering Trauma Awareness and Stewardship Basics 101 training designed to provide CHWs/CBWs, Supervisors, and employing Partners with a framework for supporting each other and obtaining a deeper understanding of the various trauma potentials and other factors that may dynamically impact their field of work and personal lives.

For more information and to register your interest, contact:
trainings@betterhealthtogether.org

Stay Connected

Join the Eastern WA Community Health Worker Network!

The Eastern WA Community Health Worker Network was formed in 2016 and has since been an active outlet for engaging and connecting active and retired community health workers throughout the region. The mission of the CHW network is to improve the health of all people in Eastern Washington by advocating for, connecting, educating, and empowering community connectors to reduce barriers and ensure equitable access to resources.

While BHT’s HRSA-funded CHW training and upskilling program will sunset in September, opportunities to stay engaged, supported and connected continue through the Eastern Washington Community Health Worker Network.

The CHW Network brings together Community Health Workers across our region to build collective power, share knowledge, and shape the future of the field. By joining the network, CHWs can:

  • Build camaraderie and peer support with others and peer support with other doing frontline community work

  • Contribute on training needs, policy change and workforce development

  • Participate in regular meetings featuring networking, information sharing and skill-building trainings

  • Stay informed about new resources, emerging practices and opportunities across the region, state-wide and nationally

Joining the CHW Network ensures that even as funding landscapes shift, CHWs continue to have a voice, a community, and a platform for influence.

Questions? Reach out to us at hello@betterhealthtogether.org

 

A Final Note of Thanks...

Finally, we wanted to take a moment to extend our gratitude for this program and what it has been able to bring to our region. To our training managers, staff and partners, thank you for bringing your head and heart to this work every day. To the CHW community of participants, you are the center of transforming care in this community, to ensuring that everyone has a chance to achieve health. Thank you for trusting us with your time and energy. While this grant is coming to an end, BHT’s investment in the community based workforce will continue. Our next chapter includes centering our work on being the best damn hub in the state with a focus on supporting the CBW.