“Beyond Access: Building Safety, Trust and Belonging in Refugee and Immigrant Health” is the theme of the fifth annual Community Health and Advocacy Conference sponsored by the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo.

The event, to take place from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. May 8 in Room 1220 in the Jacobs School, is free and open to the public. Registration is available online.

Lunch will be provided from 11 a.m. to noon, and attendees will be able to view poster presentations of community health and advocacy projects from UB trainees and fellows.

The keynote address at noon will be given by Saida Abdi, assistant professor in the School of Social Work, University of Minnesota. An expert in refugee trauma and resilience, Abdi works with refugee youth and families in the diaspora; she is an expert on refugee and immigrant mental health, trauma systems therapy and building culturally responsive interventions. Local youth keynote speaker Rehma Kashindi will also address the group.

At 2 p.m., panelists will discuss “Safety in Action: Cross-Sector Strategies to Support Immigrant and Refugee Children and Families.” Panelists include experts from such local organizations as Jericho Road, Jewish Family Services, NY Immigration Coalition, CoNECT/Community Health Worker Network of Buffalo, Buffalo Rising Against Violence (BRAVE) and UB’s Human Rights Initiative.

Attendees will be able to attend workshops from 3-4:30 p.m. on how to practically apply multilevel advocacy strategies. Topics include policy/legal rights, trauma-informed care, and youth and school engagement.

The event is sponsored by the Department of Pediatrics, the Office of Graduate Medical Education and Children’s Hospital Foundation.