Healthy Savannah and YMCA of Coastal Georgia Recognize 55 Community Health Advocates at Ceremony

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Nov. 18, 2022 - PRLog -- (SAVANNAH, GA) Healthy Savannah and the YMCA of Coastal Georgia are pleased to announce that 55 members of the community have been recognized for their work in promoting awareness and acceptance of the COVID and flu vaccines. The ceremony was held on November 12 at Kingdom Life Christian Fellowship in Savannah.

Keynote speaker Lillian Grant-Baptiste, chair of Healthy Savannah, commended the participants of the Community Health Advocate (CHA) program for dedicating themselves through training and service to elevate their own understanding and awareness of vaccines and to help share that information with others.

One of the Community Health Advocates who went through the training program earlier this year said he was approached and encouraged by his cousin to become a CHA.

Luten focuses now on meeting people where they are, from church and social group meetings to storefront grand openings and other events. He stresses the importance of being up-to-date on vaccines and that the vaccines are safe, with only one purpose.

Charice Stroud, who has volunteered for more than a year as a CHA, was also recognized for her service.

But she has also seen the need in her volunteer work to remind people that, like the flu, COVID isn't going away and vaccinations and boosters are an important part of staying healthy.

Funded by a supplemental grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Community Health Advocate program is intended to broaden the initiatives of the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) grant by increasing vaccine awareness and acceptance in communities at high risk of severe illness, hospitalization, and death due to COVID-19 or flu.

Healthy Savannah and the Y organized the CHA program in 2021 after holding a series of listening sessions to hear from the community about perceptions of vaccine concerns. Those participants were asked if they would like to do more. Eighteen of them took the first online training course last fall, then went into their communities to talk with and listen to other individuals and groups about both the COVID-19 and flu vaccines.

Participants trained in two subsequent cohorts are now also working in the community and a fourth cohort of 35 participants completed training on November 10, 2022.

Recognitions during the ceremony included presenting certificates of training to those present of the 21 people who completed the training during the first three cohorts. Certifications of excellence were also awarded to those present of the 34 participants who completed all of the requirements of the program and who are largely still actively working in the community. Certificates were mailed to those who could not attend.