In partnership with our generous donors, the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona is pleased to announce that an additional $33,000 in COVID-19 relief funding has been awarded to Arizona Center for Empowerment to support an innovative grassroots campaign aimed at increasing COVID-19 vaccine education, registration, and distribution to vulnerable communities in Pima County. Additional funding partners for this campaign include Tucson Electric Power and United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona.
The Take YOUR Shot Campaign is a unique partnership that combines traditional media outreach with grassroots canvassing and phone banking to share information on the COVID-19 vaccine and to encourage people to get vaccinated.
Mark Montoya, Interim President and CEO at the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, shared, “We believe that collaboration and multi-sector partnerships like this campaign are essential to addressing complex issues facing our community. This campaign has brought together a group of exceptional partners to increase access to the COVID-19 vaccine and share the importance of vaccination to protect our entire community. We are proud to fund this important work.”
Arizona Center for Empowerment will work with Pima Council on Aging and Pima County Health Department to mobilize door-to-door canvassing and phone banking to inform people about vaccines available in their neighborhoods and offer educational resources about COVID-19 and the vaccine.
Anna Rojo Keene, Vaccine Campaign Manager for Arizona Center for Empowerment, shared, “Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities have disproportionately faced barriers in healthcare access throughout the pandemic and into the vaccination distribution. Our campaign will utilize our presence in the community to conduct outreach, provide logistical and technological support, canvassers, and volunteers to reach people at home and in the community to increase vaccine access and awareness.”
In addition to the grassroots outreach provided by the Arizona Center for Empowerment, Pima Council on Aging is launching a bilingual marketing campaign featuring television, radio, print, and social media advertisements that encourage older adults and those who care for them to get their COVID-19 vaccination.