BBQ Celebrates Connect-to-Vaccine Program
It's been a great run for Bay Ridge Center's Connect-to-Vaccine program, which launched in May 2021. When the first proposals went out from Bay Ridge Center staff to fund this program, Covid-19 vaccines had just been made available, but without a high level of tech savvy or help from family members and friends, it was very difficult to get appointments.
Connect-to-Vaccine was originally funded by the Robin Hood Foundation and Maimonides Medical Center/Community Care of Brooklyn with the goal to make getting vaccinated EASIER for all older adults in Bay Ridge (and surrounding neighborhoods). Additional funding from Brooklyn Communities Collaborative (BCC) kept the program running an additional six months.
Under the direction of Connect-to-Vaccine Coordinator Katarina Bartel, our program served hundreds of people in southwest Brooklyn. The team made vaccine and booster appointments, arranged transportation, answered questions, tabled at street fairs, worked with community groups and city agencies to promote vaccination, distributed hundreds of flyers about our services to area households, and handed out free supplies and test kits (which are still available at Connects and the 4th Avenue Center).
Along with Katarina, other staff members included Jirazel Munoz, Philomena Ehisienmen, and current assistant Gabriela Lopez Castillo. We are grateful to all of them, plus our driver Rob Adrangna, interns, and all the staff members whose work supported the program.
On July 15, 2022, Connect-to-Vaccine fulfilled its contract, and we celebrated with a BBQ on the Connects deck. It was a fun way to bring the program to a close. Thanks to everyone who attended and to everyone who is doing all they can to stop the spread of this virus so that we really can get back to more parties and more in-person programs!
Click on photos to enlarge.
Pictured: Katarina Bartel and Gabriela Lopez Castillo; Grill-master David Dring; Some chose inside seats ; In the burger/dog line; Out on the deck
