The Florida Association of Community Health Center’s Lois Potter Hill Award recognizes an individual whose strong commitment and significant contributions have improved the health, education, and social well-being of all individuals, but especially those who are least fortunate among us. Marie-Jose Francois is the Community Relations and Outreach Coordinator at Community Health Centers in Apopka. She has served the farm worker population in her area for over 38 years. Most recently she has dedicated her time to conducting trainings around the state on pesticide-related illnesses among agricultural workers. Ms. Francois has been recognized by state and national agencies for advocating to address HIV among the farm worker population. She encourages utilizing indigenous native languages to spread the HIV prevention message. Most recently Marie, of Haitian descent, has immersed herself in Haiti’s Earthquake relief efforts in Orlando. She greets newly arrived refugees and provides them with language interpretation and crisis counseling services. Like Lois Potter Hill, this person is an advocate for those individuals, and especially for migrant and seasonal farm workers in Florida.
Marie has made it her life’s work to develop and carry out programs that will reach families and individuals that are all too often locked out of access to traditional healthcare avenues. Recently, Ms. Francois’s long record on behalf of farm workers was recognized when she received the Lifetime Achievement in Migrant Health Award from the National Association of Community Health Centers.