Complete Reach Committee Newsletter - Vaccinate Ventura County

Next Complete Reach Committee Meeting

Monday, August 23 from 8:30 – 10:30 a.m.

8:30 – 9 am – Optional session on earned income tax credit (EITC) and how we can all help decrease childhood poverty by almost 50%

9 – 10:30 am – Complete Reach Committee

Complete Reach Committee Newsletter, July 2021

Dear Complete Reach Committee Family,

Thank you all so much for joining the meeting Monday morning. With over 100 community leaders in attendance, it was deeply moving to hear of the tremendous outreach taking place throughout Ventura County. Be assured, your collective efforts are literally saving lives!

According to the County of Ventura COVID-19 update yesterday, data shows that community members are now 50 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 when unvaccinated. Dr. Robert Levin captured the urgency of our collective effort when he shared that for those that are vaccinated, there is only a 0.0034% chance of being admitted to a hospital due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As trusted messengers, your commitment to listening to the concerns of our neighbors and helping to promote accurate and complete information on the vaccine is so valuable and vital to ending this global health crisis.

Of course, it isn’t just a health crisis. It is also an education crisis and an equity one. According to a report from consulting firm McKinsey & CO., U.S. students ended the pandemic school year 4 to 5 months behind. Students who were already experiencing educational inequities were hardest hit by the crisis.

With a rise in breakthrough infections with the Delta variant, we must continue to act, and do so with the compassion we all share. Through children’s art books, community convenings with coffee and light refreshments, door-to-door outreach, Sandy Sanitizer, and community car parades, we can help reach our neighbors and build our network of informed and engaged messengers.

It isn’t easy. We are in an evolving situation. But, we are not alone. We have each other.

Thank you for continued commitment and service to our community.

My best to you,
Vanessa Bechtel, President & CEO of VCCF

Complete Reach Committee Meeting Recording

A recording from the July 26 Complete Reach Committee Zoom meeting is available below.

Another successful #vaccine pop-up clinic in #SantaPaula. Special thanks to Vista Real Charter School for inviting us today and the awesome team from Ventura County Health Care Agency for administering the shots. High-five to all the students who stopped by to get vaccinated.
Via Child Development Resources Facebook page

Grant Reports Due

Please make sure you have turned in your required grantee reports. Future funding for our community depends on this information – we only have 3 days before our report to the state is due. Contact Joe de la Serra for help.

Additional Funding Available in August 2021

Additional funding will be available soon, specifically focusing on geographic outreach areas (Port Hueneme, Oxnard, and Simi Valley) and our youth community between 12 and 18 years old.

Outreach in Action

The Oxnard Performing Art Center has been uber creative! Some of their great work is included below. Visit their website for more on their vaccine campaign and to view all their videos and materials.

Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project’s (MICOP) radio station Radio Indígena 94.1 recently released an episode all about the COVID-19 vaccine on their show Guelagetza. Radio Indígena attempts to merge the two to provide programming that is easy to understand and digest in a Spanish that is 4th-6th grade level.Radio Indígena’s unique value proposition lies in the additional programming that it is able to provide in at least seven Mixteco languages, Zapoteco, and Purepecha.

Westminster Free Clinic has put together a presentation on their COVID-19 Vaccine Outreach report for May to June 2021.
This presentation covers the services and resources available at the clinic for vaccination. Westminster has distributed 269 vaccines at their Thousand Oaks site and 141 vaccines at their Oxnard sites.

Child Development Resources of Ventura County present episode one of Sandy Sanitizer! This children’s show is perfect for the entire family. In this first installment, we’re introduced to Nature Nita and Sandy Sanitizer, two best friends who provide helpful information to guide us through a pandemic filled world. Their sense of humor, energy, and music, is meant to make you smile at a time when we all need a little help from our friends.

Congratulations to the Lady of Guadalupe Church Esperanza Project for reaching over 7,000 people from May to June for their vaccination outreach and awareness!

Santa Paula Labor Day Parade

Monday, September 6 from 10 – 11 a.m.

So, what are you doing on Labor Day? Before you enjoy those burgers and hot dogs, you can participate in Ventura County’s only Labor Day parade on Monday, September 6, at 10 to 11 a.m. This parade began in 2005 with a theme of “Honor the Workers.” This parade brings out workers and watchers who cheer on laborers, unions, horsemen and bands during this event that steps out on Main Street and ends at the Railroad Plaza Gazebo. Parade participants include marching bands and cheerleaders from local schools, an assortment of floats depicting particular labor occupations and organizations, unions (including UFW, SEIU 727, SPFT Local 2071, Plumbers and Steam Fitters Local 484, faith organizations, CSEA Classified Employees, Southern California Laborers Local 1585 and American Postal Workers to name a few) as well as a contingent of cultural dancers from the Morelos/Oaxaca/Guerrero region in southern Mexico, Charros on their beautiful horses, an assortment of agricultural tractors and related farm implements, police and firefighter vehicles.

Unlike other parades, this Labor Day march has workers dressed to reflect their jobs or to show unity with matching t-shirts as they shout slogans reflecting the strong history of labor in America. It is raucous, exciting, inclusive, entertaining, informative and a true cultural spectacle you won’t want to miss.

In the News

Earned Income Tax Credit

Thanks to the American Rescue Plan (ARP), the Child Tax Credit has now been expanded to reach more families, even if a family has made little to no income in the past year. Please consider joining us at 8:30 a.m. on August 23 to learn more about how you can help spread the word and decrease the number of families living in poverty in our community. Click here to learn more.