Last week the CDC Foundation had a film company from Washington, DC, come to Cincinnati to document the work of the Coalition for Health Justice. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Molly Hermann and Rob Lyell, film makers with experience filming museums, Discover Channel Programs, Smithsonian Programs, filmed our associate director, Jada Davis, as she navigated members of the 5000 Club, a weekly dinner for people who are homeless, at Christ Church Cathedral and then on Wednesday, in affiliation with the Food Pantry at the Church of the Resurrection and the Bond Hill Recreation Center, they filmed Jada in our largest vaccination event of the past two years. The CDC Foundation, a private organization but affiliated with the CDC, chose our Coalition for Health Justice as a model of their programs to promote flu and COVID vaccinations. The film makers had the opportunity to see how a beautiful meal prepared and served by the Christ Church opens the door to a discussion of the health needs of people with the greatest health needs. They saw how the Coalition has blended beautifully with the target goals of feeding people and providing health options at the same time.
At the Bond Hill Recreation Center, people from this neighborhood that is considered a health desert, were lined up waiting for the flu and/or COVID vaccinations. Other navigators were present to discuss the meaning of vaccinations in specific and the possibility of full health care. Most people in both places were very eager to be part of the film. The trust level in both setting is very high: the people know us and we know their stories. The belief that people who are poor, or refugees, or people who are disabled, or minorities are not interested in health care was challenged by the large turnout and by the willingness of people to wait for the staff from Walgreens to provide the shots.
Molly and Rob were limited in the amount of time they had to observe and document our events. Had they been able to stay, they would have been able to visit another health fair at Greater New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, see the work of the Health Champions as they plan a health fair at Aiken High School, or meet the staff of the Freeman Center for People with Disabilities and visit with our Coalition at our upcoming February 16th, 12noon, meeting at Caracole. I am excited that people around the country, especially in urban areas, via television and the Internet, will see our efforts to bring vaccines, food, and healthcare to people from neighborhoods that have the highest mortality. I am reminded of the words of Dr. Jonny Ray Youngblood, minister and Bishop of Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church, speaking about his attempts to bring churches and other service organizations together in Brooklyn, N.Y., when he said: “…there’s something about togetherness that lets you keep going. And so if there are ancestors who can accompany us, I say reach for them. Because our work isn’t going to get any easier.” (S. Freedman(1993). Upon this Rock. Harper.)