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Date: 1/11/2022
SPRINGFIELD – Vaccination advocacy continues to be an essential tool against the pandemic’s impacts. In an effort to enhance the community’s vaccine efforts, Mercy Medical Center is receiving a $100,000 grant from Trinity Health’s “It Starts Here” COVID-19 advocacy campaign.
Trinity Health of New England’s Massachusetts Regional Director of Community Health and Well Being Cherelle Rozie spoke to Reminder Publishing about the implementation of the project. “What I really appreciate about this type of funding is we’re putting it directly into community-based organizations that are on the ground who have direct relationships with the community,” said Rozie.
The community health director detailed how the “It’s Starts Here” campaign is working to specifically target areas that have been under-served throughout the pandemic.
Rozie discussed the five organizations that will be receiving funding from the Trinity grant. In the north end of Springfield, the grant will support the Black Springfield COVID-19 Coalition and the New North Citizens’ Council. Black Springfield offers education, personal protective equipment, and vaccine pop-up clinics to residents while New North provides advocacy through their door-to-door, bilingual outreach efforts, according to Rozie.
Other organizations are utilizing their funding to improve education for youths who are now eligible for vaccination. Rozie highlighted how grant recipients Gandara Mental Health Center and Extreme Kids Inc. are utilizing vaccine clinics, informative scientific conferences and playful activities to educate the younger populous.
The community health director said the fifth organization, the Mental Health Association, is working to connect with employees and their families through their “Got the Shot” campaign.
Rozie also discussed the essential role these organizations play as communities like Springfield are disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. “The Springfield area and Hampden County area are some of the lowest in terms of vaccination rates across Massachusetts,” said Rozie. She articulated how the pandemic has further magnified other disparities – such as food insecurity and homelessness –that exist within diverse communities, with these disparities also connecting to the lower vaccination rates.
“Once certain populations were eligible for the vaccine, we were looking to partner with some pharmacies and certain organizations to administer these vaccines within Springfield. When it came to us going into the community, it was extremely difficult within the first several months to be able to partner together and get folks vaccinated,” said Rozie.
Rozie hopes that the grant funding will continue to improve access and education across the community. “It’s really a community effort. This $100,000 is just one contribution to a much larger contribution from a lot of our partners,” said Rozie.