Puentes de Salud

The mission of Puentes de Salud is two-fold: First, to partner with South Philadelphia’s rapidly growing Latino immigrant community to build long-term prosperity by addressing immediate education, health and social service needs. Second, to create a responsible learning environment for future generations of advocates, educators, healthcare providers to examine social determinants of health, social justice and structural violence in practice and to explore their impact on the social determinants of health within a marginalized community.

Puentes de Salud believes that a comprehensive strategy to promote wellness in any community must work towards diminishing the effects of structural violence and social injustice on the communities, specifically access to healthcare, economic opportunity, and education. Because most of the underlying causes of inequality are social and structural in nature, our actions must be, too. For this reason, we offer integrated social and medical services to support full mental, emotional, and physical well-being from the individual to the community.  The goal is to provide the social, economic, and health resources necessary for individual and community empowerment.

Working in partnership with community members, local public schools, universities, service-based organizations, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and the local government, Puentes de Salud addresses the root causes of social injustice that profoundly affect the prosperity of this community. At Puentes de Salud, we are challenging the idea that deep and long-standing inequalities are acceptable realities within our society. We are not only re-imagining but also fostering an environment in which our vision of equitable access to health care, education, and empowerment exists.