The PublicSquare COVID-19 Equity Internship Project empowers a diverse group of first-generation college students to create culturally and linguistically relevant deliverables to serve those most adversely impacted by COVID-19 in Santa Barbara County.

The Project utilizes personal experience and interests, cultural identity, languages spoken, academic expertise, and career goals to create and deliver insightful targeted outreach that increases access to medical, mental health and wellness, and economic resources and helps stop the disproportionate spread of COVID-19 among marginalized communities. Our diverse group of student interns attend UC Santa Barbara, SBCC, Allan Hancock College, and Carpinteria High School, and speak Cantonese, French, Hindi, Mandarin, Mixteco, Portuguese, Spanish, and Vietnamese as either their first or second language.

Interns conduct primary and secondary research independently, in small groups, and as part of public-nonprofit community collaborative networks currently working to fill systemic gaps created by socioeconomic, racial, legal, cultural, linguistic, and other disparities.

As Reopening Ambassadors, interns receive training in Psychological First Aid to care for themselves and others in trauma and to support safe reopening practices in public, private, and nonprofit environments. They also help create culturally sensitive materials for outreach to our County’s Indigenous, Latinx, Black, Asian and other low-income underrepresented and otherwise hard to reach communities who are in dire need of accurate information and who are suffering disproportionately from COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in Santa Barbara County.

As Technology Ambassadors, interns design innovative means of information delivery to teach new skills and help bridge the digital divide for COVID-related needs.

All of the work performed by the interns supports the Latinx and Indigenous Migrant COVID-19 Health Response Task Force representing over 60 community-based organizations and involves a direct partnership with SB County’s Departments of Public Health, Behavioral Wellness, and others as collaborations and partnerships continue to expand.