Alejandro Díaz greets a cat on Oct. 23 at an apartment complex in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami. He s an outreach worker with Healthy Little Havana, going door to door to talk to people about getting tested for COVID-19.
Little Havana is a neighborhood in Miami that, until the pandemic, was known for its active street life along Calle Ocho, including live music venues. There you can find examples of the quintessential
ventanita serving Cuban coffee and a historic park where men gather to play dominoes.
But during the pandemic, a local group called is zeroing in on this area with a very specific assignment: convincing residents to get a coronavirus test.
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María Elena González, left, and Alejandro Días of Healthy Little Havana speak with Gloria Carvajal about getting tested for COVID-19 on Oct. 23, 2020.
Health Foundation of South Florida is spending $1.5 million on groups to do outreach and get more people tested in hard-hit communities that have mostly Black and Latino residents.
On an afternoon in October, a team of outreach workers set out to convince people to get tested for COVID-19, in a residential neighborhood of East Little Havana far from the Domino Park and popular restaurants of Calle Ocho.
The group of three started knocking on the white doors at a two-story apartment building. Lisette Mejía answered her door, holding a baby in her arms, as two small children stood on either side of her.
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María Elena González, left, and Alejandro Días of Healthy Little Havana speak with Gloria Carvajal about getting tested for COVID-19 on Oct. 23, 2020.
Healthy Little Havana has received funding from the Health Foundation of South Florida, which is spending $1.5 million on several groups to do outreach and get more people tested for COVID-19 in hard-hit communities that have mostly Black and Latino residents.
On an afternoon in October, a team of outreach workers set out to convince people to get tested for COVID-19, in a residential neighborhood of East Little Havana far from the Domino Park and popular restaurants of Calle Ocho.