News Release
Brian Sasser
Episcopal Health Foundation
832-795-9404
Your Shot Texas awards more than
$1.1 million in latest round of grants to raise confidence and increase access to COVID-19 vaccines, especially for youth and children
Previously funded projects have reached 500,000+ Texans hesitant to vaccines with trusted information
Access efforts have directly vaccinated almost 20,000 people outside the health system
HOUSTON (March 31, 2021) – 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 in Houston, Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc. in San Antonio, and The Meadows Foundation in Dallas.
Your Shot Texas is a statewide pooled fund providing grant dollars to nonprofit organizations across Texas with existing relationships to priority groups, including people of color and under-resourced rural and urban communities. To date, the fund has raised more than $3.6 million from 22 donors and foundations across the state. The fund is administered by Greater Houston Community Foundation.
With this latest announcement, 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%) of those vaccinated were people of color and 95% who received vaccines were from low-income families.
“Masks may be gone and big crowds are back, but COVID hasn’t gone away,” said Brian Sasser, Episcopal Health Foundation’s chief communications officer. “When the next COVID variant or wave comes, so many Texans still won’t be protected, including children. Your Shot Texas is proving that when trusted community messengers can battle misinformation, vaccine-hesitant people can change their minds. Plus, when community groups are able to make vaccines available at convenient places and times, more Texans get the shots.”
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 childcare, food trucks, care packages, and other incentives
- Free transportation to vaccination centers through coordinated transportation or buses, public transportation tokens, and/or 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.
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For interviews, connections to grantee groups, and/or more information, contact Brian Sasser at 832-795-9404 or bsasser@episcopalhealth.org.
About Your Shot Texas:
Your Shot Texas is philanthropy’s collaborative response to raise confidence in COVID-19 vaccines and increase access among priority groups — those most affected by the virus and historically-marginalized populations across the state. The $2.7 million fund was created by Episcopal Health Foundation, Methodist Healthcare Ministries, and The Meadows Foundation. The Your Shot Texas fund is administered by the Greater Houston Community Foundation.
Other supporting funders include Arnold Ventures, The Cullen Foundation, The Cullen Trust for Health Care, Friends of the Your Shot Texas Fund, Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, Houston Endowment, Carl B. & Florence E. King Foundation, Lyda Hill Philanthropies, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Southwestern Medical Foundation.
For more information, visit http://bit.ly/YourShotTexas