Episcopal Health Foundation (Houston, TX)
Your Shot Texas is investing more than $1.1 million to help community-based organizations increase access to COVID-19 vaccines, battle hesitancy, and make sure communities that have been hit hardest by the virus have an equal shot to get vaccinated. Many of these latest grants are going to groups helping get solid information to parents about the importance of vaccinating children and teens, and then making it convenient for families to get the shots.
This is the third round of grants awarded by the statewide philanthropic effort created by Episcopal Health Foundation, Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc., and The Meadows Foundation.
Your Shot Texas has awarded more than $3 million in funding through 54 grants that are mobilizing a total of 188 community organizations working on vaccine-related projects across the state. So far, those groups have directly reached more than 500,000 Texans in 98 counties with solid information to improve COVID-19 vaccine confidence. Almost 20,000 people have received a first or second dose of the vaccine because of vaccine access efforts by nonprofits supported by Your Shot Texas. Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of those vaccinated were people of color and 95 percent who received vaccines were from low-income families.
Your Shot Texas funds supported successful efforts to raise vaccine confidence including:
- Door-to-door visits
- Small group discussions where people talk about vaccine fears
- Outreach events at churches, schools, and pharmacies
- Phone, text message, and social media campaigns
- Working with apartment managers to reach tenants
Successful efforts to increase access to vaccinations include:
- On-site mobile vaccine clinics for farmworkers and other groups
- Pop-up vaccine sites at parks, church gyms, stores, and more
- Vaccine events with perks like onsite child care, food trucks, care packages, and other incentives
- Free transportation to vaccination centers through coordinated transportation or buses, public transportation tokens, and rideshare gift cards
- Vaccine sites with weekend and evening hours
In this latest round of $1.1 million in funding, Your Shot Texas is awarding grants to 16 organizations and community collaboration efforts across the state are primarily working with parents, children, and older youth. They include innovative projects that are: working in schools and with school districts, creating vaccine programs in Boys and Girls Clubs, adding COVID-19 vaccines to children’s mobile vaccine clinics, utilizing community health workers in rural communities, and much more.
Contact: Brian Sasser at 832.795.9404 or bsasser@episcopalhealth.org.