Advocacy groups host vaccine clinic

MORVEN — On Nov. 20, community partners and organizations hosted a community vaccine clinic and giveaway drive at HOLLA!. Partners included New Rural Project, Healthier Together, Equality NC, and Atrium Health.

In total, Atrium Health gave 89 COVID-19 vaccinations, and many more attended the drive. Those who got the vaccine also received gift cards to local fast food and grocery stores. Those needing their second shots can come to another clinic on Dec. 18.

Many organizations participated in the drive. WellCare, AmeriHealth, and Carolina Complete Care gave out Thanksgiving meal items such as sweet potato pies and cranberry sauce. Roger’s Heart gave out hot Thanksgiving plates. Triad Barber School gave out free haircuts. Other community members also gave out snacks, masks, clothes, and bottles of hand sanitizer.

“This is what I call a monster partnership,” said HOLLA!’s CEO Leon Gatewood. “We’re very excited about today; this has been one of the most successful projects I’ve been a part of. Showing how togetherness can make things more successful — that’s one of the big things as well.”

Anson County is a “red” county in terms of the CDC’s metrics for COVID-19 spread, because of high COVID-19 rates and low vaccination numbers. The county also has higher rates of poverty and food insecurity, so this clinic and drive were needed for the community, Gatewood said.

One of the organizations that saw that need is the New Rural Project, co-founded by Policy and Operations Director Helen Probst Mills and Executive Director Cynthia Wallace. They led the vaccine clinic to address the barriers to access, promoting overall health ratio and health equity.

“We’re still very concerned about the issues of the folks in the rural county. We knew that their needs might not be addressed, so we wanted to figure out how we could continue to serve. And because of that, we founded the New Rural Project, which the focus is a three-prong strategy. We focus on listening and increasing civic and electoral engagement of marginalized folks and folks under 40 that aren’t engaged,” said Wallace. “Anson County is one of our targets because there were about 2,600 African American and Hispanic people that did not vote in the 2020 election, and so we want to talk to them. We’re going to do deep canvassing to understand their issues and their concerns, and then figure out how to help uplift them and amplify their voices in the civic process. Putting it into the community we hope is now providing access for others. And this is just the beginning.”

Equality NC partner and Charlotte Civic Engagement Coordinator Jamie Hildreth said he wanted to partner with the New Rural Project because he’s from the area and has seen the issues they aim to address.

“I constantly see the divide that exists within our state between resources that are flooded into urban areas versus maybe not so much in the rural areas,” Hildreth said. “This is just a perfect example of showing that if you bring the resources to rural communities, the people will show up more.”

Another partner who volunteered at the event was Commissioner Vancine Sturdivant of Lilesville, who stressed the importance of getting the vaccine.

“The reason I’m here today is because I see the importance of everyone getting vaccinated and I want them to be made aware that to get past this we have to be vaccinated,” Sturdivant said. “We need to make our seniors aware, the middle class — that’s where we have our most opposition at — and we need to get them a vaccination.”

“It was great to pair up because people are getting their vaccines where they’re also getting a Thanksgiving meal as well. So like a great combination of the two elements together,” said Hildreth.