In 2019, ORCHWA and the collective of culturally specific community-based organization partners (Urban League, Latino Network, Micronesian Islander Community Organization, Asian Health Services Center, Immigrant Refugee Community Organization, and Multnomah County Health Department Community Partnerships), also known as the CHW Capacitation Collective, received funding from OHA to provide CHW trainings from 2019-2022 . 

Many of the partnering organizations previously provided training in collaboration with the Multnomah County Community Capacitation Center (CCC). Partnering organizations had access to the 90-hour CHW foundational curriculum they developed called  We are Health, and culturally adapted the material to be relevant to the communities served. We are Health curriculum was approved by Oregon's Traditional Health Worker Commission. 

goals of this Community Health Worker Capacitation Collective (CHWCC) and howto:

• To increase the diversity of Oregon’s health workforce, both by increasing the number of certified CHWs, and also by increasing desire and commitment among some CHWs to pursue additional formal education in a health or healthcare profession.

• To assuage the shortage of Community Health Workers in rural and medically underserved areas and populations in Oregon, by increasing the availability of evidence-based training that qualifies CHWs for certification. 

HoWTO training schedule

These trainings were funded by the Healthy Oregon Workforce Training Opportunity Grant Program (HOWTO). HOWTO is administered under the direction of the Oregon Health Policy Board in partnership with the Oregon Health Authority and previously OHSU.