LOS ANGELES — Back in October of 2020, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health started exploring new ways to enhance their COVID-19 response, especially within communities that were being hit hardest by the virus. Through that effort, the community health worker outreach initiative was born.

The program entrusts existing organizations to carry out aspects of their COVID response through the funding they receive from the health department, according to Tiffany Romo, who is a health manager at the Department of Public Health.

One of those organizations is the Resilient Agency, which was founded in 2018 and is dedicated to restoring underprivileged communities by providing critical services — such as job fairs, food distributions events and mental health services. They also focus on youth development and gang intervention for communities that have been impacted by violence.

Romo says partnering with a group like Resilient Agency, which she calls “a fixture in their community,” is critical for this program to succeed because it’s easier to fight the COVID-19 virus if they work through groups that have already gained the community’s trust.

Michael Guedel is the co-founder and executive director of Resilient Agency. Spectrum News 1 spoke to him at a food distribution event recently, where dozens of nearby residents are given fresh groceries, snacks and toys for children. They also hand out personal protective equipment, including masks and gloves, hand sanitizers, disinfectant wipes and rapid COVID-19 antigen tests.

Guedel says everyone on the Resilient Agency team is from the communities that they serve.

"Myself and the other co-founder started Resilient because we wanted to reach out back to the communities where we come from, and we wanted to service individuals and families with similar backgrounds," said Guedel. "So having that lived experience and knowing the barriers that it takes to overcome, we wanted to create an organization and create a mission that would help remove those barriers."

At one of their weekly food distribution events, they helped families living in South LA, including Esmeralda Ramirez’s family. Ramirez says she has four grandkids to feed and is still feeling the impact of sky-high inflation when she visits the grocery store.

“Right now, you go to the store, and everything’s expensive," she said.

Ramirez noted how it’s also helpful that Resilient Agency offers services in the heart of her South LA neighborhood.

"It helps us that it’s right here local, because unfortunately some of us, we don’t have cars, and we have kids, and they don’t want to walk," she said. "So it’s easier for us that they’re here in the area."

That’s something Romo from the LA County Department of Public Health said was a huge factor in how they chose which agencies to partner with.

"It’s important to meet people where they are," she said.

For more information about the Resilient Agency, visit their Facebook page.