Chapel Hill organization provides vaccine outreach for non-English-speaking community

Following WRAL's Forward Together Change Makers report earlier this month about the need for a clinic for vulnerable communities outside of Chapel Hill, Orange County's Health Department announced plans for a pop-up clinic at the Rogers Road Community Center in Chapel Hill on Saturday.

This Rogers Road community is mostly made up of Hispanic and Asian Americans. Many don't speak English, so, local volunteers printed hundreds of flyers in different languages. The information was well-received and the message, understood.

Duke's Dr. Marva Price is one of the people organizing the event.

"Shortly after the WRAL interview a few weeks ago, I got in contact with the Orange County Health Department, they were not aware that this community had not gotten as many people as we wanted to vaccinated," Price said.

Price and minister Rosie Caldwell reached out to WRAL last month when they were having trouble getting people signed up for a COVID-19 vaccine in the Rogers Road community. They realized the hesitancy was coming from the language barrier, so they got creative.

"We have a Korean, a Spanish [flyer,] and we gave them the different information telling them they can sign up for a vaccination," Caldwell said.

Caldwell and volunteers went door to door handing out the flyers. They were able to reach about 300 people in a way each one could understand.

The response was overwhelming.

"Ecstatic, happy, understanding and gracious. They would mimic the sign of "thank you" to let us know that they really appreciate being able to give this here to the community," Caldwell said.

They also had help from the Orange County Health Department, which is providing the vaccines and the volunteers who assisted in calling other neighborhoods in the county. They reached close to 800 people by phone.

"God gave us a heart of understanding even though there is a language barrier and they can’t understand," Caldwell said. "That’s what I really feel about this. I feel good about it and excited. I'm looking forward to tomorrow to greet some of the people and let them know that, 'hey we are all in this thing together,'"

The pop-up clinic will take place Saturday from 9 a.m. until noon at the Rogers Road Community Center.

They are offering 100 Moderna doses, but, there are runners on standby with more if needed. No ID or appointment required.