Albuquerque's Office of Equity and Inclusion was recently awarded a $3.95 million grant to improve COVID-19 vaccination rates in areas that are disproportionately impacted by the virus, the city announced in a press release.

The grant will fund four health providers, four community-based organizations and the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center’s Office of Community Health and Project ECHO, the release stated.

"Although Albuquerque is emerging as one of the healthiest cities in the region, we still face major inequities when it comes to public health," Mayor Tim Keller said in the release. "This grant represents an opportunity for us to support safety-net providers to continue to meet their primary missions while assisting the city, state and nation in addressing COVID-19." 

The two-year grant will allow 10 project partners to hire a total of 25 new community health providers and support staff with community health workers, which will be peers from the communities they serve who are trained to teach health literacy and connect people to resources. 

"Community service providers are among the best equipped to improve health literacy and connect residents to a broader network of care," Keller said. "No one should have their health impacted because of these barriers, and we’re grateful for this major grant to continue breaking them down."

Community health workers will work with the city in local clinics and with community-based organizations to reach immigrants, refugees, Native Americans, African Americans, Asian and Pacific Islanders and other vulnerable populations, the release said. They will also provide them with education about the disease and help them get access to health services and other resources. 

"This project recognizes and addresses the higher needs of people while providing culturally and linguistically appropriate health education and resources to survive COVID," Office of Equity and Inclusion Director Michelle Melendez said in the release.