Liss Idrovo-Perdomo shared her passion for working with families as a resource navigator at Children’s Minnesota’s Community Connect program in a feature in the Star Tribune published on Friday, August 14. Liss spoke about the importance of advocating for families and how her personal journey impacts her work.
“Resource Navigators are a diverse group of individuals who have backgrounds similar to the patients we serve. We know firsthand the struggles of these communities and we have a passion for helping their children,” Liss said in the interview. “I moved to the United States from Ecuador when I was a teenager. I’ve fought hard to build a different life for my two kids. Being a Latina and a young single mother of two, I’ve been there. We know what questions to ask and what questions not to ask.”
Community Connect, which is partially funded by a generous grant from Kohl’s Cares, is a program that goes beyond basic medical care to support the social determinants of health impacting kids. resource navigators help connect families to a broad range of existing family resources, including food access, transportation services, legal assistance, housing support, early childhood education programs, employment search assistance and more. Since 2017, the program has served more than 5,200 families, with nearly 90% of participants surveyed indicating that the program improved their family’s health and well-being. Even during the pandemic, the program has continued to innovate and find ways to support families.
“Due to COVID[-19], we rely on technology a lot, but this is an example of how resilient and determined we are to help these families. COVID[-19] has not stopped us,” Liss said. “We are listening, we make sure families know we are still here for them and, thanks to technology, we are literally a text away.”
Learn more about Liss’ inspiring story and Community Connect by reading the full article in the Star Tribune.