Founded on the belief that South Carolina is stronger when all residents are healthy and thriving, PASOs (Perinatal Awareness for Successful Outcomes) is a statewide initiative that was founded initially to support the Latino community with maternal and child health needs. After demonstrating success and positive outcomes, PASOs added more comprehensive programs and support services and expanded into additional communities across the state.
The decision to expand to Spartanburg was intentional and well-researched. In fact, conversations about bringing PASOs to Spartanburg began in 2009 and resulted in a community readiness assessment being conducted in 2013. While the assessment documented a clear need for the program, the challenge was finding a nonprofit home or fiscal sponsor. After several promising leads fell through, Upstate Family Resource Center agreed to a partnership with PASOs. With funding from the Mary Black Foundation, PASOs Spartanburg opened its doors in 2017, becoming the only countywide organization to serve the Latino community.
PASOs uses a community-driven approach and is based on the community health worker model, a public health strategy that employs trusted members of the community to provide services and interventions within the same community. This trusting relationship allows community health workers to connect individuals to existing healthcare and social service resources. The community health worker model has demonstrated positive health outcomes among the people it serves due to the close alignment of values and practices between service providers and clients.
In Spartanburg, Nora Curiel is the program coordinator, and she leads a team of six community health workers serving the Latino community. Nora Curiel describes the importance of being from the community, knowing the people who she serves, speaking the language, and understanding the culture and unique challenges as keys to meeting the community’s needs.
PASOs is a lifeline for many Latino families in Spartanburg County. Blanca Gomez is one example of how individuals and families can be changed by PASOs. A survivor of domestic violence, Blanca Gomez describes the feelings of joy and relief at having accessible information through PASOs, which connected her to others in the community. She credits PASOs for helping her find the physical and psychological support, including a Spanish-speaking counselor, that she needed to be a better parent to her children and to get through a challenging time. Today, Blanca Gomez is a small business owner who employs other women in a successful cleaning company. She is an entrepreneur, a mother, an active PASOs volunteer, and a contributing member of the Spartanburg community. She believes her story would be markedly different without the support of PASOs.

A Community-Driven Approach

Nora Curiel
A Lifeline for Families

Blanca Gomez