NEWS

GAR Foundation awards $200,000 to connect Black community to COVID resources

Betty Lin-Fisher
Akron Beacon Journal

The GAR Foundation is awarding money to several Akron health care and community organizations to help develop "culturally competent, credible COVID-19- and vaccine-related information and deliver that information to the Black community."

The Akron-based foundation is giving $200,000 for the effort, it announced on Tuesday.

"As the U.S. surpasses 25.2 million COVID-19 cases and Ohio approaches the one-year anniversary of its initial stay-at-home order, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on all of our lives. And yet, mirroring the national trend, the impact  has been even more severe among Akron's Black and Brown communities," the foundation said in a news release. "Akron’s communities of color have seen higher rates of infection and hospitalization, and higher rates of job losses. Plus, minority-owned businesses have fared worse than their white counterparts."

Many Black citizens mistrust health institutions due to patterns of racism in the healthc are system, the foundation said. "In order for the Black community to benefit from COVID-19 resources, including the vaccine, this trust chasm must be bridged." 

“We have two goals in creating the Know COVID program: 1) to connect the Black community to needed COVID-19 resources and 2) to support the long process of repairing trust in our health care system. We are encouraged that neighborhood organizations and the health care systems have stepped forward with enthusiasm and energy to advance these goals,” said Christine Amer Mayer, president of GAR Foundation.

GAR Foundation is partnering with the following seven neighborhood organizations and the two major adult health care systems:

  • Akron Urban League: The Akron Urban League will distribute personal protective equipment (PPE) during predetermined dates and times each month.
  • LINKS Community Services: LINKS Community Services will track needs in the Middlebury community and refer residents to resources. It will also act as a pick-up location for PPE.
  • North Akron CDC: North Akron CDC will distribute messaging and COVID-19 kits to Black and new American communities in North Hill.
  • Project Ujima: Project Ujima will act as a resource center for the West Akron neighborhood.
  • South Street Ministries: South Street Ministries and Summit Lake CDC will canvass the South Akron and Summit Lake neighborhoods monthly to distribute COVID kits and information.
  • Love Akron: Love Akron will train community and faith leaders in mental health awareness through the organization’s mental health and wellness initiatives.
  • ArtsNow: ArtsNow will work with GAR Foundation and neighborhood organizations  to select a Black artist(s) to translate COVID-19- or vaccine-related information into an artistic medium.
  • Cleveland Clinic Akron General and Summa Health System: Hospitals will work directly with the neighborhood organizations to develop the COVID-19- and vaccine-related information and to produce COVID-19 kits for the neighborhoods. In  addition, both hospital systems will host virtual information sessions for community members.

“We know that our investment will not solve the long-standing systemic inequities, but we believe that this is a small step in the right direction to combat misinformation and build trust between the health systems and the communities they serve,” said Bronlynn Thurman, program officer at GAR Foundation.

The program will run from now through June with distribution of funds beginning in February.

Beacon Journal staff reporter Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her @blinfisherABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/BettyLinFisherABJ To see her most recent stories and columns, go to www.tinyurl.com/bettylinfisher