By Monica Simmons | Communications Coordinator
On Tuesday, September 24th, People’s Community Clinic participated in National Voter Registration Day with an event to register as many patients as possible. Voter Deputy Registrars (VDR) stationed themselves in the clinic’s main lobby to greet patients and ask if they’d like to register. Alongside People’s tables, there was a fun photo booth to capture the excitement. By day’s end, People’s had registered dozens of Travis County residents.
The Community-Centered Health Home (CCHH) program at People’s spearheads efforts to engage patients in civic processes with the goal of building healthier communities.
“It’s important to get our patients involved,” said CCHH manager Cherelle Vanbrakle. “Policies affect people’s health in tangible ways and, historically, our patients have been underrepresented in the voting process.”
Last year Vanbrakle initiated a partnership with the Travis County Voter Registration Division so that Volunteer Deputy Registrars (VDRs) would be regularly stationed at the clinic to register patients. The partnership also gave staff the opportunity to train as VDRs. Now, People’s has more than 20 VDRs who are authorized to help answer questions and submit necessary paperwork to the county.
With their new credentials, People’s VDRs helped patients get registered, some of whom didn’t even know they were eligible.
Dr. Salina Mostajabian, VDR, heard from adolescent patients and their families that the volunteers in the Adolescent Resource room answered many questions they had about voting eligibility and procedures.
Special guest Bruce Elfant, the Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector, also stopped by to check on the event. Under his leadership and with partners like People’s, Travis County now has the highest rate of registered eligible voters in the state.
People’s would also like to thank the League of Women Voters and Jolt Texas, a non-profit organization that increases the civic participation of Latinos in Texas, organizations who tabled at People’s National Voter Registration Day event.