Local Nonprofits Stepping Up to Bolster COVID Vaccination, Education Efforts

The messy and confusing distribution of COVID-19 vaccines has prompted a broad array of nonprofits and volunteers to step in to fill the gaps.

In Fresno County and across the nation, organizations are helping get shots in the arms of people from diverse and sometimes hard-to-reach communities. Organizations that serve people of color, LGTBQ people, the homeless, elderly and others are jumping into the fray. They are seeking not only to reduce the fear of vaccines but also to help local and state governments vaccinate more people.

In Fresno County, partnerships between community groups and government are helping to get the vaccine distributed in rural areas. The Fresno County Department of Public Health on Friday announced that Cultiva La Salud, Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability, Stone Soup of Fresno, Westside Family Preservation Services Network, and the Education and Leadership Foundation will share $400,000 provided by Together Toward Health, a project of the Public Health Institute, to provide increased outreach, messaging and education efforts to hard-to-reach communities in rural Fresno County.

Cultiva La Salud executive director Veva Islas said Friday that more than 3,300 vaccine doses have been administered in Orange Cove, Biola, and Del Rey since Feb. 3. The latest batch of 320 doses went to Del Rey this week, she said.

Cultiva La Salud and fellow nonprofit Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability have partnered with Saint Agnes healthcare, Fresno State nurses, and Dr. Joaquin Arambula, a Fresno assemblymember, to bring vaccines to underserved communities, Islas said.

Those community-based organizations and others also are on the front line of the COVID-19 education and advocacy campaign.

Click below to read the full story in GV Wire.

Originally published by GV Wire