(SAVANNAH, GA) Healthy Savannah and the YMCA of Coastal Georgia are pleased to announce that 55 members of the community have been recognized for their work in promoting awareness and acceptance of the COVID and flu vaccines. The ceremony was held on November 12 at Kingdom Life Christian Fellowship in Savannah.
Keynote speaker Lillian Grant-Baptiste, chair of Healthy Savannah, commended the participants of the Community Health Advocate (CHA) program for dedicating themselves through training and service to elevate their own understanding and awareness of vaccines and to help share that information with others.
One of the Community Health Advocates who went through the training program earlier this year said he was approached and encouraged by his cousin to become a CHA.
Issac Luten III had previously worked for many years as a director of infection control in hospitals and other settings. During that time, he saw how a lack of knowledge or misconception, fueled by fear, resulted in the unnecessary treatment of patients during the early days of HIV and AIDS in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He dedicated himself to showing compassion to those patients while also promoting proven infection control measures.
“I learned during training you don’t have to be a scientist to be an advocate, you just need to go into the community and speak of the importance of receiving the COVID vaccine and measures like mask-wearing to help reduce the pandemic,” Luten said. “Throughout most of my career, I was the first in line to get a vaccine. I had 5000 employees to convince that all of their vaccines should be up to date at all times in order to prevent the spread of infection to patients and visitors who came into our environment.”
Luten focuses now on meeting people where they are, from church and social group meetings to storefront grand openings and other events. He stresses the importance of being up-to-date on vaccines and that the vaccines are safe, with only one purpose.
“I know some young black males who wondered if the government was putting materials in the vaccine,” he said. “I explained there would certainly be more efficient ways for the government to do something to them than to get them to come in one by one like this.”
Charice Stroud, who has volunteered for more than a year as a CHA, was also recognized for her service.
“My most memorable moment as a CHA was seeing a local church reopen the doors to their sanctuary,” she said. “I could physically see how happy people were to see and embrace one another.”
But she has also seen the need in her volunteer work to remind people that, like the flu, COVID isn’t going away and vaccinations and boosters are an important part of staying healthy.
“I do see that people are becoming more complacent as life returns to how it was pre-pandemic,” she said. “COVID stats and stories are no longer headline news but as we ease back into normal life it is more important than ever to keep up with booster shots.”
Funded by a supplemental grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Community Health Advocate program is intended to broaden the initiatives of the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) grant by increasing vaccine awareness and acceptance in communities at high risk of severe illness, hospitalization, and death due to COVID-19 or flu.
Healthy Savannah and the Y organized the CHA program in 2021 after holding a series of listening sessions to hear from the community about perceptions of vaccine concerns. Those participants were asked if they would like to do more. Eighteen of them took the first online training course last fall, then went into their communities to talk with and listen to other individuals and groups about both the COVID-19 and flu vaccines.
Participants trained in two subsequent cohorts are now also working in the community and a fourth cohort of 35 participants completed training on November 10, 2022.
Recognitions during the ceremony included presenting certificates of training to those present of the 21 people who completed the training during the first three cohorts. Certifications of excellence were also awarded to those present of the 34 participants who completed all of the requirements of the program and who are largely still actively working in the community. Certificates were mailed to those who could not attend.
Those who completed the community engagement activities are: (Cohort #1, October 2021) Taahirah Shakoor, Pat Edwards, Beatriz Severson, Norman Luten Jr., Kim Jackson-Allen, Leslie Walker, Charice Stroud, Jerome Irwin Jr., Ervenia Bowers, Cassie Jenkins, (Cohort #2, March 2022), Bridget Morrison, Cameron Morrison, Christie Orta, Dona Williams, Ianthia Davis, Ike (Isaac) Luten, Julie Claxton, Melanie Wright, Melissa Bolechala, Nicole (Yolanda) Moore, Cohort #3, July 2022), Salathiel Deloach, Eva Alas, Tonni Wellington, Lufecia Martin, Brittany Brown, Kevina Patterson, Amber Kestler, Natusssha Futch, Rhonda Ancrum, Gail Burton, Jessica Harvey, Kamura Davis, Sebrina Brown, Pamela Hurst.
ABOUT THE YMCA OF COASTAL GEORGIA/HEALTHY SAVANNAH GRANT FOR RACIAL AND ETHNIC APPROACHES TO COMMUNITY HEALTH: In September 2018, Healthy Savannah and the YMCA of Coastal Georgia were awarded a five-year, $3.4 million grant called Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health. Awarded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the funding is being deployed in an “upstream” approach by the Savannah/Chatham County project team to foster sustainable health equity among Black residents in low-wealth neighborhoods. The aim of the local project, called Healthy Opportunities Powering Equity, or HOPE, is to increase the availability of high-quality nutrition; promote physical activity through creating greater access to safe places to walk, run, bike and play; and foster stronger connections between people and the healthcare providers who serve them. Working with more than 200 community partners and organizations, the team is committed to elevating the health and wellness of the community through policy, systems, and environmental change. In July 2022, Healthy Savannah received the CDC’s 2022 REACH Lark Galloway-Gilliam Award for Advancing Health Equity Challenge. The award recognizes extraordinary individuals and entities whose work has contributed to advancing health equity.
healthysavannah.org ymcaofcoastalga.org.
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