The city of Wichita will receive a $4 million federal grant that will be used to improve health literacy and expand education and outreach services to help racial and ethnic minority communities and vulnerable populations in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The grant is from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through its Office of Minority Health. The OMH has awarded $250 million in grants to 73 local governments across the country as part of a new two-year initiative. The goal is to improve COVID-19 vaccination and other mitigation practices among underserved populations.
The city will be working with the Wichita Black Alliance, Sedgwick County, the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita, HealthCore Clinic, Hunter Health, GraceMed and other agencies.
The initiative will include marketing efforts, community outreach, data gathering and other activities, and it will connect communities to information and resources for COVID-19 testing and vaccinations, food, housing and mental health services.
Teresa Lovelady with HealthCore Clinic said the pandemic raised an awareness of health inequalities in the community, and the grant will allow agencies to reach across all demographics to gather data and make better decisions.
