Your Shot Texas awards more than $400,000 in grants to raise confidence and increase access to COVID-19 vaccines in Texas

Your Shot Texas awards more than $400,000 in grants to raise confidence and increase access to COVID-19 vaccines in Texas

Press Release
Tuesday, June 22, 2021

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News Release

Brian Sasser

Episcopal Health Foundation

832-795-9404

bsasser@episcopalhealth.org

 

Your Shot Texas awards more than

$400,000 in grants to raise confidence and increase access to COVID-19 vaccines in Texas

Philanthropy collaborative focuses new vaccine uptake effort on populations who have been most affected by the virus

 

HOUSTON (June 22, 2021) – Your Shot Texas has invested more than $400,000 in grants 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. Below are the recipients of the first round of grants awarded by the new $2.35 million 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 the state with existing relationships to priority groups, including people of color and under-resourced rural and urban communities. The fund aims to fill the gap and support outreach efforts and activities that may not qualify for public resources but offer a promising approach at increasing vaccine confidence and uptake.

 

 

“It’s clear that COVID-19 hit Black, Hispanic/Latino, and other communities the hardest during the pandemic, yet the vaccination rates within those groups lag behind,” said Elena Marks, Episcopal Health Foundation’s president and CEO. “This effort prioritizes these and other communities – including rural areas – that are outside the health care system. These groups are best reached by trusted messengers to address any remaining vaccine hesitancy and then they  follow up with more convenient access to getting a vaccine.”

 

The Your Shot Texas governing and grants committees use updated Texas data to monitor vaccination rates across the state and to inform the fund’s grantmaking strategy. You can view the latest Texas vaccination data using this embeddable interactive map.

 

The 12 organizations that are receiving the first round of Your Shot Texas grants cover a wide area of the state and are organizing a variety of outreach activities that include creating urban vaccine hubs, building efforts to reach homebound rural residents, canvassing neighborhoods, establishing phone and texting banks, and much more.

 

“While government and private providers play a critical role in vaccine uptake, we know that trusting relationships in communities of color and other marginalized populations are critical to increasing access and overcoming hesitancy,” said Oanh Maroney-Omitade, Vice President for Organizational Excellence at Methodist Healthcare Ministries. “Many of these organizations need strengthened ties with health providers or can’t receive government funding to support their vaccine uptake activities. This leaves a critical gap for private philanthropy to fill.”

 

“Philanthropy has played a key and diverse role in supporting communities during the pandemic,” said Kathy Smith, senior program officer at the Meadows Foundation. “Supporting these nonprofits as they work to increase vaccinations in their communities is a critical equity-focused need in which Texas philanthropy can play an important role.”

 

Interested nonprofits across the state will soon be able to apply for Your Shot Texas grants during a second round of funding. Organizations can register to receive funding updates by filling out an interest form at http://bit.ly/YourShotTexas.

 

 

Your Shot Texas

Round 1 Funding

TOTAL GRANTS AMOUNT: $403,768

Organization

Priority Area

Amount

Counties

Acts of Hope Center

Vaccine Confidence & Vaccine Access

$35,390

Bexar

Area Health Education Center of the Mid Rio Grande Border Area of Texas, Inc.

Vaccine Confidence & Vaccine Access

$40,000

Atascosa, Bailey, Bandera, Bee, Bexar, Brooks, Comal, Dimmit, Duval, Edwards, Frio, Gillespie, Guadalupe, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells, Karnes, Kendall, Kenedy, Kerr, Kinney, Kleberg, La Salle, Live Oak, Maverick, McMullen, Medina, Nueces, Real, San Patricio, Uvalde, Val Verde, Webb, Willacy, Wilson, Zapata, and Zavala

Ark-Tex Council of Governments

Vaccine Confidence & Vaccine Access

$24,478

Bowie, Cass, Delta, Franklin, Hopkins, Lamar, Morris, Red River, and Titus

 

Boat People SOS – Houston, Inc.

Vaccine Confidence

$25,000

Brazoria, Galveston, and Matagorda

East Texas Immigrant Advocacy and Resource Center

Vaccine Confidence & Vaccine Access

$30,000

Van Zandt and Wood

Gulf Coast Leadership Council

Vaccine Confidence & Vaccine Access

$39,000

Brazoria and Fort Bend

Gulf Coast Leadership Council

Vaccine Confidence & Vaccine Access

$39,750

Jefferson and Orange

Hispanic Leadership and Management Foundation

Vaccine Confidence

$37,400

All Texas Counties Except: Bastrop, Caldwell, El Paso, Harris, Hays, Travis, and Williamson

La Union del Pueblo

Vaccine Confidence & Vaccine Access

$40,000

Cameron

Mi Familia Vota Education Fund

Vaccine Confidence & Vaccine Access

$40,000

Dallas

Texas Organizing Project Education Fund

Vaccine Confidence & Vaccine Access

$40,000

Dallas

The Immunization Partnership

Vaccine Confidence & Vaccine Access

$12,750

Crosby, Lynn, and Tarrant

Total

 

$403,768

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Brian Sasser, Episcopal Health Foundation’s chief communications officer, 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 $2.35 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, Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, Lyda Hill Philanthropies, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Rockwell Fund, Inc.
For more information, visit http://bit.ly/YourShotTexas

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