The mission of the the Border AHEC program is to improve access to health care for the Hispanic population and other underserved populations of California along, and 300 miles north of, the United States and Mexican Border through educational interventions that will improve the supply, distribution, quality and efficiency of personnel providing health services; to encourage health promotion and disease prevention; to assure culturally and linguistically competent services to the population; and provide recruitment and retention activities for providers interested in serving the target population.

The goals of this project, conducted through the San Joaquin Valley Asthma Promotores Project are to provide quality asthma education and training to health care professionals who work primarily in rural areas with underserved communities. In addition, community health workers/Promotores (CHW) are recruited in remote areas and are provided with proper training that will enable them to provide quality asthma education to the community. CHW are knowledgeable and sensitive to the communities and cultures they serve and are often from those communities. By recruiting and training CHW, we are able to reach and dramatically impact the targeted populations. This program also works with teachers, administrators, daycare providers and parents from Head Start, Migrant Head Start, and other schools in rural areas to educate and provide the necessary skills on the proper management of asthma.

The California HETC Program consists of five Centers with specific goals designed to contribute to the pursuit of the mission in their area of assignment. The five California HETC's are:

	San Joaquin Valley HETC
	Multicultural HETC
	Los Angeles Basin HETC
	Orange County HETC
	San Diego Border HETC