Full course description
IALNF/NL Sponsored Pre-Conference Workshop April 21st 1-4 PM
From Awareness to Action: An Interactive Workshop on Latino Homelessness and Health Equity
At the Menger Hotel in San Antonio Texas
Presented by:
Diana M. Cavazos, PhD, MSN, RN, Associate Professor/Clinical, UT San Antonio School of Nursing. An accomplished Registered Nurse with a 25-year nursing career. She works with multicultural populations, focusing efforts on susceptible communities, including Hispanic communities struggling with migrant issues, intimate partner violence against women, opioid use disorder, and homelessness. As an Associate Professor/Clinical at UT Health San Antonio School of Nursing, her leadership and interventions have focused on creating awareness and solutions to address health equity as social justice for vulnerable populations.
Madelein Santibanez, Senior Director of Health & Wellness, Corazón Ministries in San Antonio, Texas. She oversees one of the only authorized Syringe Service Programs (SSPs) in the state. As a first-generation American and proud daughter of indigenous migrant parents, Madelein’s lived experience deeply informs her commitment to advancing health equity for marginalized and unhoused Latino communities. She brings over a decade of experience in harm reduction, street outreach, and community health education—leading initiatives that integrate public health practice with cultural humility, trauma-informed care, and relational healing. Her leadership has been instrumental in developing the Region 8 Naloxone Distribution Hub, expanding access to overdose prevention across 28 counties in South Texas. Through her work, Madelein seeks to bridge the gap between awareness and action, advocating for structural changes that honor lived experience and promote dignity, belonging, and wellness for all.
Continuing Education will be provided for Nurses, Social Workers, Licensed Professional Counselors and Psychologists
The University of Texas at San Antonio is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
The University of Texas at San Antonio School of Nursing is approved by the Texas State Board of Socials Workers Examiners to provide Social Worker CE.
Centralized Training Infrastructure for Evidence Based Practices is an approved provider by the Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors