Gulf Coast COVID-19 Recovery Center

Project Summary/Abstract The Historically Black Colleges/Universities and Communities Consortium (HBCUCC) is directed by the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) in New Orleans, Louisiana, in partnership with the Barbara Jordan Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University (TSU) in Houston, Texas; and in collaboration with five (5) community-based organizations located along the Gulf Coast in five states (Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Texas). These communities are at high risk of exposure to COVID- 19 and are disproportionately impacted by the adverse effects of the virus, namely; a.) falling victim to this virus at disproportionately higher rates, and b.) higher rates of hospitalizations and deaths linked to lingering and persistent health, social and environmental inequities faced by people of color. The need for this training program is evident in light of the ever rising infection and death rates across the country and a most alarming rise in rates along the Gulf Coast. It is expected that this training program will assist in the reduction of the transmission of the virus through effective community education and training thereby stemming the tide of community spread within these high risk areas. This application is responding to Notice of Special Interest, NOT-ES-21-002 Prioritizing Health, Safety and Recovery Training for COVID-19 Essential Workers and their communities. The Deep South Center will expand the work of the Consortium to include the development of a Gulf Coast COVID-19 Recovery Center to "promote Health, Safety and recovery training for COVID-19 Essential Workers and their community." To this end, the DSCEJ and TSU will expand the reach of the consortium by incorporating communities in all five HBCUCC states for training. These include communities across the Gulf Coast. The overall goal of this training program is to assist and facilitate equity in community recovery from this virulent COVID-19 virus and resulting pandemic, leading to a broader acceptance of public health measures in communities hardest hit by the virus. The specific aims of this project are: (1) to develop partnerships for COVID-19 training with community- based organizations representing high risk communities and provide education and awareness training on COVID-19 health risks; (2) to facilitate access to wraparound service resources for disaster preparedness, response and recovery through city agencies; (3) to provide two classes on COVID-19 per month at designated sites in the Consortium thereby training approximately 241 residents through 1,868 contact training hours; (4) to serve as a repository for the distribution of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE); (5) to develop a mobile application connecting community residents and essential workers with wraparound services and jobs; (6) to develop monthly YouTube videos presenting COVID-19 cases and an impact analysis for each community resulting from tracking COVID-19 data and air pollution data within five communities across five states participating in the consortium; and (7) to conduct train-the-trainer classes for participating CBO leaders.