When Denise Hernández was a young and passionate student, her grandmother encouraged her to drop out of school and get married.
“Because, you know, in our culture it’s more common to get married and have children at a young age,” Hernández said smiling, recalling her Mexican grandma’s words.
But she kept on studying.
Now, Hernández is married and a mother of two daughters.
At 33, she has a Ph.D. in public and urban administration from the University of Texas at Arlington, a master’s in public health from Texas A&M University and a bachelor’s degree in allied health sciences also from A&M.
Hernández, a child of Mexican parents, was born in San Antonio. She moved to Dallas after she earned her bachelor degree.
Once here, she realized that despite the need for health outreach, there weren’t any groups or nonprofits doing the job.
In 2013, she set off calling other promoters in the area, she met them in person, and after two years, they founded the organization.
She is executive director of the Dallas-Fort Worth Community Health Workers Association, a nonprofit with more than 100 health promoters that she founded six years ago.
For her community work, Ford Motor Company included her in its list of “Legendary Women” along with 19 other U.S. Latinas as part of the company’s recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, her organization is seeking to create awareness among people to get vaccinated.
Its health promoters go to churches, recreation centers like the YMCA and health events they’re invited to for Q&A sessions, talk to people and do surveys to understand why are there still people resistant to getting vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.
“We’re trying to do what we can,” Hernández said.
A work that changed with the pandemic
For Hernández, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a watershed.
Before it, she said, her work wasn’t as appreciated. But with the coronavirus, the nonprofit got its first budget in six years and received a grant to promote safety and vaccination in Tarrant County.
“Since COVID started, everybody understands the importance of having a better relationship with the community to be able to reach out in a more effective way.”
“Perhaps a doctor can tell you what you have to do, but you’re more likely to listen to someone you trust, someone you know and with whom you have a relationship,” said Hernández.
“Something good coming out of this is that there are more organizations and more people who are seeing the value of health promoters.”
In Texas, she said, health advocates have a hard time finding a paid job, and organizations like hers only get grant funds that last for one or two years.
“We would very much like to be able to advocate for hospitals and more nonprofits to make an effort and add more health promoters as part of their organization, without having to rely on grants,” she said.
“For this year, I’m serving as executive director. For this year, we have a COVID grant. Only this way can we pay our health promoters. Aside from the grant, everything is voluntary.”
Health promoters are women who otherwise hold full-time jobs, and only on weekends or afternoons can do their outreach work in their neighborhoods.
“Our organization works hard in the community, trying to educate and offer prevention services. Quite often, the people who need this more are the Hispanic community,” she said.
Hernández is happy with the work she is doing. She feels it comes naturally.
As a child, she said, she used to translate for her mom during doctor visits; she helped her with her paperwork, joining her at places where she faced a language foreign to her.
“I’ve been working as a health promoter for many years unaware that what I was doing was a profession. It’s part of who I am,” she said.
The roughly 100 promoters dine together every three months, offer resources and educate the population closer to their households.
“Health promotion is a profession. This is where I must be,” she said.
“Our promoters advocate for their community.”