Community Advocate Born of Resistance

When a member of the COVID-19 outreach team for the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Latino Community Center contacted a single mother of four about the COVID-19 vaccine, the mother was extremely resistant. Not only did she ignore their voicemail messages, she actually hung up on a team member who called her a week later. Although they didn’t know it, the Center's “COVID-Champions” had been successful in planting the seed of change. Eventually, the mother called back with questions – what were the side effects? Long-term reactions? Would it keep her children alive? She was eventually persuaded to vaccinate her family, and in turn, she convinced neighbors, family members, and co-workers to get vaccinated as well, becoming a community advocate herself.