Temple University’s Lenfest Center for Community Workforce Partnerships (LCCWP) offers a community health worker training program certified by the Pennsylvania Certification Board at an affordable cost or in the form of a scholarship.  

“There has been a direct correlation between community health workers and better health outcomes, including cost-effective healthcare and delivery of coordinated services within the hospital,” said LCCWP Executive Director Shirley Moy. “At Temple, we seek scholarship funding for many community health workers that we train or employ so they can also become hired by our partners, including Temple Hospital and other healthcare providers. 

Community health workers are people from the community trained to function as frontline public health workers who coordinate access to resources, healthcare and social services at affordable costs for patients, particularly among marginalized and underserved populations. In 2023, community health workers at the entry level earned an annual wage of $41,060, according to the 2024-2025 High Priority Occupations list for Philadelphia County. 

“Temple’s community health worker program has helped members in our community secure higher-paying jobs to support their families,” Moy explained.  

Temple’s community health worker training program is held three days a week during the fall and spring at Main Campus, Center City Campus and the PA CareerLink at Suburban Station. The community health worker education requirement is 90 hours of in-class training, including lectures, readings and other assignments. People at least 18 years old with a high school diploma or GED can apply for the community health worker program. Temple also offers the training to English language learners, as bilingual community health workers are in demand. 

Tiffany Lovett, EDU ’01, completed her community health worker certification in the first Temple Health community health worker’s training cohort in July 2012. After 12 years of working as a community health worker, she recently returned to Temple to accept a position at LCCWP as its Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) CARES coordinator last February. Her duties include assisting community health workers meet the COVID-19, chronic health illness and social determinants of health needs for PHA residents.  

Lovett also supervises community health workers hired by partner agencies who completed Temple’s training program and are prepared to do outreach, host forums and workshops and are available to help neighbors reach their optimal healthcare goals. 

“Temple does a great job of preparing you to get employed as a community health worker shortly after you complete their training program,” said Lovett. “The program teaches you about resources and strategies to help residents throughout Philadelphia make small incremental changes toward better health.”  

For Lovett, serving as a community health worker and coordinator is more than just a job—it is an important aspect of her life. She believes in community capacity building and empowering her community to become informed advocates for their health, showing them that they have the strength to overcome barriers that prevent healthy lifestyles. 

“Everyone should have a fair chance to be as healthy as possible. Black and brown communities have historically faced disparities in healthcare access,” she said. “So, my goal is to connect patients in our communities with resources and information to attain the highest level of health, regardless of their circumstances.” 

Another community health worker who completed Temple’s community health worker program is Akia Thomas. She is a health navigator for LCCWP who goes the extra mile to help PHA patients navigate the health system to become well-versed in common underlying health conditions and identify quality care at lower costs.  

Thomas goes door to door to provide residents with health information and additional resources while accompanying them to healthcare services if needed. She also connects elderly residents with home care services and helps parents locate daycare for their children. A PHA workforce navigator first referred her to Temple’s community health worker training program.  

“Before this job, I was unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A PHA workforce navigator connected me with Shirley, who has been incredibly supportive,” Thomas said. “After I completed the training, I was hired immediately in the community health worker field, which became a viable resource to support my family.”  

Thomas recently connected residents with health awareness events for diabetes, heart health, and the health benefits of increasing fruit and vegetable intake. 

“We provided fresh fruits and vegetables to community members at my last event,” she said. “Many residents are not even aware of the great healthcare programs and resources offered in our community, so helping them brings me a lot of joy.”    

Visit Temple’s community health worker training program website to apply and learn more information about the program.