News — A coalition of community-based organizations (CBOs) groups that has been providing grass-roots support during the COVID epidemic today called on the city Health Department to allocate emergency federal funds to assist those groups best equipped to reach residents of vulnerable communities who have both highest risk of COVID, and the chronic diseases that have escalated the epidemic.
The Communities Driving Recovery coalition, made up of groups across the city from the Bronx to Far Rockaway, urged the city to allocate half of the $108 million in new Center for Health Equity funds to take advantage of the existing infrastructure these groups provide in the outreach that is critical to tackle both the health multiple health crises unleashed by the pandemic.
The Coalition invited public participation in a webinar it will be hosting today, August 19, at 11 am or 4 pm at the link at the bottom or this press release.
“This ongoing pandemic emergency requires maximizing the involvement of those community groups already on the ground,” said Chris Norwood, Executive Director of the Bronx’s Health People which has tackled the on-going epidemics of chronic diseases such as diabetes that have been exacerbated during the pandemic. “Instead of re-inventing the wheel with large outside organizations who would first have to get up to speed, the city should use the existing infrastructure of community groups working with it on COVID testing and vaccination to now, finally, launch effective interventions to offset the unprecedented health crises spawned by the COVID epidemic.”
The coalition urged the city to move away from proposals, such as a so-called Public Health Corps and private contractors, that bypass both the community-based expertise and cultural sensitivity that make locally-based organizations so effective.
The plan released today by the Communities Driving Recovery is based on three goals:
- Presenting an array of potential projects in hardest hit communities that can be effectively implemented within the one to two years within which the recovery-related funds must be expended.
- Strengthen the existing community-based infrastructure of the Test & Trace and Vaccination (T2) Community Group Coalition and Advisory Board which emerged as the COVID pandemic took grip in vulnerable communities. These groups are best placed and equipped to address the needs of their respective communities.
- Outlining an accelerated planning and contracting process that involves immediate planning meetings with the city and the CBOs to develop the program areas, simplifying the application process through contract modifications and adding approved new programs for funding existing T2 contracts, to avoid delays.
“In public health, the value of the work done in the community is immeasurable,” said C. Virginia Fields, the former Manhattan Borough President who is the founder and leader of Black Health – the National Black Leadership Commission on Health. “Faith based organizations, for example are cornerstones in communities of color and are intuitively aware of the needs of their communities and how to best serve them. It is important for interventions and programs to be designed with the target community in mind and working with faith-based and other organizations that provide insight into how the needs can be met as well as direct access from a trusted institution in the community.
“Through its support of community groups, New York City had the highest COVID-19 testing rate in the nation, which was key to enabling the city to get through the second COVID wave better than other large cities; so we know that supporting groups on the ground to tackle health challenges is what works,” said Anthony Feliciano, Executive Director of the Commission on the Public’s health System. “That is why we know our plan is the most powerful and effective possible to launch the real fight against health disparities which has never occurred. This money exists because of the tragedy of New York’s most vulnerable communities and it must be spent in ways that will most help and empower them to rebuild health.”
"New York City is wonderfully diverse and. Asian American and Pacific Islanders communities are some of the fastest growing in the city,” said Anita Gundanna, co-Executive Director, the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families. “Our community-based organizations continue to be the lifeline to our diverse communities of color. They are the trusted sources with the knowledge and experience helping our communities heal. Only by having groups on the ground be the ones to build health can we even hope to have equity and progress."
The Communities Driving Recovery coalition also specified five major program areas, with proposed allocations, that the city should embrace.
- Allocating $15 million for widespread implementation of chronic disease prevention methodologies, including evidence-tested peer-delivered programming, provided in languages appropriate to residents, ad expanding existing training programs
- Allocating $12 million for food justice and building community members;’ access to nutritious food through food pantries, community gardens, especially in connection with NYCHA developments to ensure wide availability of affordable fresh food which is essential in tackling chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension
- Allocate $14 million to navigation and service coordination/SDOH (Social Determinants of Health Assessment and Referral, which allows community groups to streamline engaging participants with medical, behavioral and social health delivery systems. This would include culturally sensitive providers such as doulas, community health workers, outreach workers and peer specialists, along with wellness services such as exercise, yoga and meditation.
- Allocating $5 million to recognize and augment faith-based initiatives to more fully engage trusted community leaders that are already providing health programs.
- Allocating $6 million to tackle the digital divide and invest in expanding internet technology for CBOs to expand and assess their programming, much as larger organizations have incorporated into their much larger grants they regularly receive from the city and other funding sources.
For questions or to RSVP: [email protected] to attend Thursday, August 19 at 11:00am or 4:00pm | Join via Zoom link:
Meeting ID: 889 0822 3571
Passcode: 136165
One tap mobile
+19292056099,,88908223571#,,,,*136165# US (New York)
For a fuller description of the plan, email to [email protected].
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2021
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