One of the Dan River Region’s Community Health Worker (CHW) program’s very own has been selected to serve as a National Ambassador for the National Association of Community Health Workers (NACHW). Crystal Deshazor, a Certified CHW Team Lead, was selected through a highly competitive process to become one member of the first cohort of 20 NACHW Ambassadors. She represents the state of Virginia.
“Crystal continues to be an amazing leader and advocate for the Community Health Worker Initiative of the Dan River region. Not only does she advocate for the clients and the community that she serves, she also advocates on the state and national level to help bring awareness to the health issues and social determinants that are affecting Virginians,” said CHW Project Manager Amanda Young. “She is the true definition of a public servant.”
Throughout their term, Ambassadors will convene meetings and develop strategies with the NACHW Ambassador and Outreach Committee to support new member recruitment and act as an Ambassador of NACHW at select events for at least one year. Ambassadors will also contribute to program development and share updates on outreach efforts in their own regions. They have already gathered to discuss the roles, responsibilities and vision for the Ambassador Program.
“I look forward to creating the standards that will one day break boundaries for Community Health Workers as a whole,” Deshazor said. “Most importantly, I want to advocate for the people that go unheard, who are underprivileged, overlooked and that suffer from illnesses across the state of Virginia and around the world.”
