Success at a Glance

Sisters in Birth is a Jackson-based pregnancy and birth clinic committed to keeping moms and babies alive and healthy in Mississippi, a state with one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the U.S. To help reduce sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and COVID-19 infections in moms and their babies, Sisters in Birth launched a new partnership in the spring of 2023 with the Mississippi Department of Child Protection and UnitedHealthcare. Thanks to the collaboration, Sisters in Birth organized...

Human services organization Pillsbury United Communities prides itself on successfully building community trust and relationships to support medically underserved populations in the Minneapolis metropolitan region. In 2022, thanks to a robust Community Health Worker program and standout individuals sharing factual information about COVID-19 and flu vaccines, immunization rates rose in three metro communities. One senior community member from the Brian Coyle Center in Cedar-Riverside shared that...

To help promote the importance of COVID-19 vaccines, New Orleans-based addiction treatment provider Odyssey House Louisiana enlisted the help of “Debbie with a D,” a local drag queen celebrity and vocal supporter of public health. “Debbie with a D,” who holds a master’s degree in public health, first gained notoriety as a trusted health advocate when she helped provide more than 10,000 HIV self-testing kits to the New Orleans’ LGBTQ+ community in the months leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic...

In the agricultural region of western Missouri, the seasonal fruit harvests create opportunities to deliver quality healthcare to rural communities. During the peach and apple picking months in the summer and fall, Lexington-based HCC Network partners with Migrant Farmworkers Assistance Fund (MFAF) in Kansas City to provide vaccination education and access to the seasonal farm worker community. From August to October 2023, MFAF organized regular vaccine outreach at one orchard, where HCC Network...

In supporting underserved Hispanic communities in Southern California,  Latino Health Access (LHA) has used its highly successful Vaccine Ambassador Program to help inform and empower community members. Through this program, LHA trains participants as Promotores de Salud (Health Promoters) who engage with their communities to share accurate information about COVID-19 and flu vaccines. From December 2022 to January 2024, LHA leveraged its community partnerships to train 6 different groups...

To better serve its community of indigenous elders, the International Association for Indigenous Aging (IA²) developed impactful culturally tailored health outreach programs around vaccine education.  Historically, indigenous community engagement has been rooted in the tradition of talking circles, safe discussion spaces where every participant has a chance to contribute. IA² drew on this traditional concept and adapted it for the digital realm, inviting individuals from its Facebook community...

As part of its goal to increase access to vaccinations for families throughout the state of Rhode Island, Family Service of Rhode Island (FSRI) hosted a successful vaccination event at Johnson and Wales University (JWU) in Providence on February 24, 2023.  Thanks to FSRI’s promotional efforts on campus, community turnout was strong.  JWU students, faculty and staff attending the event could receive flu, COVID-19 and/or T-dap vaccines. One student shared that she had never received a flu shot...

Community Ministry of Prince George's County (CMPGC) is a Maryland-based interfaith organization that is committed to helping reduce health and educational disparities in underserved communities. To better support its own local community just outside Washington D.C., CMPGC organized a multi-state Health Advisor training program in North Carolina, bringing together influential leaders from Prince George’s County, MD and from 20 other partner community organizations.  As a result of this training...

As part of its health outreach to support members of the LGBTQ+ community over the age of 45, Gay Elders of Detroit (dba MiGen) works to provide greater access to COVID-19 and flu vaccines. In early 2023, MiGen staff recognized that some community members were hesitant about getting a COVID-19 vaccine booster. In response, the organization created a tongue-in-cheek promotional campaign that teased summer with the tagline “The hottest bodies on the beach are vaccinated.” One of the faces of the...

As part of its efforts to diminish significant health disparities in migrant and seasonal farm worker communities, Illinois Migrant Council (IMC) participated in four different health fairs during the month of March 2023. The well-attended events took place in agricultural communities throughout the state and offered free health services, including a variety of health screenings, COVID-19 and flu shots, as well as educational material around vaccinations. Community members attending the health...

As part of an on-going effort to promote public health throughout the state, Iowa Public Health Association (IPHA) uses storytelling to teach its community about important health topics and increase access to care. In the winter and spring of 2023, IPHA provided storytelling training workshops to its partner community-based organizations to enhance their promotional campaigns about COVID-19 and flu vaccines on social media and other platforms. To further their effort, IPHA also enlisted the help...

As a leading adult education organization in the state of Connecticut, Literacy Volunteers of Greater Hartford (LVGH) is committed to raising literacy rates in its community through instruction. After becoming concerned about lack of vaccine access in 2022 -2023, the group expanded its scope to provide its community with a series of health education classes, which encouraged individuals to make informed decisions about their health and well-being. In conjunction with the classes, LVGH hosted...

When health advocacy organization Idaho Immunization Coalition (IIC) got word of a housing crisis in rural Blaine County, where 600 families from Peru had moved to in the fall of 2022, the group quickly mobilized staff and partner organizations to help provide food, health services and other resources to the new arrivals in need. Taking the lead, IIC partnered with Idaho State University College of Pharmacy, The Hunger Coalition, and St. Luke's Medical Center to put on two health fairs, one in...

More than 80 residents of the rural Roanoke Valley region in North Carolina gathered for a day-long Community Health Forum on March 4, 2023, to participate in thought-provoking group conversations around building a healthier community. Titled “Our Health Matters,” the forum was sponsored by the Gregory B. Davis Foundation (GBDF), a non-profit organization incorporated in Maryland and chartered in North Carolina. The event was run in partnership with the Roanoke Valley Breast Cancer Coalition and...

When GraceMed Health Clinic in Wichita, Kansas launched a Tik Tok video campaign to help dispel false information about COVID-19 and flu vaccines, the faith-based health organization did not expect much success. “I would joke that we had three middle-aged men trying to figure out a young person’s game,” explained GraceMed Director of Communications, Jason Jennings. But thanks to a playful style that delivered factual information intercut with humorous clips from YouTube and Giphy, the videos...

In keeping with its mission to support Latin American families in Minnesota, Communities Organizing Latino Power and Action(COPAL) put in place a volunteer-driven Promotoras d Salud (Health Promoters) program, in part to share accurate information about COVID-19 and increase vaccine confidence among the Latino community. Mara Lopez, a well-trusted community leader in the rural town of Madelia, was one of the first to join the program. Since training as a Health Promoter, Lopez has used her...

The first Happy HoliGAYS Health Fair in Greeley, Colorado on December 9, 2023 kicked off a successful joint venture between LGBTQ+ advocacy organization Out Boulder County (OBC) and the Weld County Department of Public Health & Environment. Weld County is a mostly rural area, and this inaugural health event was part of OBC’s efforts to expand its vaccine outreach outside of the state’s urban centers. Those attending the health fair at Greeley’s Unitarian Universalist Church could receive COVID...

For the Nepali community living in the Pacific Northwest, accessing accurate and trustworthy health information about COVID-19 has been a constant challenge, especially for those with limited English proficiency. To combat this problem, Nepal Seattle Society enlisted young English-speaking Nepali volunteers to help connect older community members to reliable COVID-19 resources. Part of this youth-led effort included the launch of a Nepali-language podcast in November 2021 called Let’s Talk #KURA...