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Dr. Joycelyn Elders, Mayor Toni Harp, and Dr. Camara Jones among notables joining Crystal Emery and Our Humanity\u2019s new faith-based collaborative mobilizing churches to fight coronavirus in BIPOC communities<\/strong><\/p>\n New Haven, Conn. (January 4, 2021)<\/strong> \u2014 As COVID-19 cases and deaths reach alarming new highs around the country, filmmaker-advocate Crystal R. Emery is leveraging a vast network of partners ranging from policymakers to grassroots organizers in the fight against the deadly pandemic. Emery, the founder and CEO of URU The Right to Be, Inc. (URU) \u2014 a national nonprofit dedicated to creating a more equitable world \u2014 has created Our Humanity<\/a>,<\/span> a national education and prevention initiative delivering crucial information and risk-reduction measures on the novel coronavirus pandemic to Black, Indigenous and Latinx communities. Participants in the nationwide movement include former U.S. Surgeons General Dr. Joycelyn Elders and Dr. Vivek Murthy and actor Keith David. Recognizing that faith-based organizations have long served as trusted resources and social foundations in Black and Latinx communities, Our Humanity recently launched its Faith-Based Collaborative in Connecticut to help combat the state\u2019s surge in coronavirus cases.<\/p>\n The Collaborative is designed to build the capacity of religious organizations in helping reduce the spread of COVID-19 through increased access to education on the virus and making community-based interventions such as COVID testing and flu shot distribution more readily accessible. The Collaborative\u2019s national advisory committee is comprised of public health experts and faith leaders including Dr. Elders, Bishop Theodore Brooks, Meriden City Councilor Miguel Castro, the Reverend Kendrick Curry, Dr. Karen DuBois-Walton, New Haven Mayor Toni Harp, philanthropist William Graustein, the Reverend Abraham Hernandez, Dr. Camara Jones, the Reverend Dr. Boise Kimber, philanthropist Roslyn Milstein Meyer, President and CEO of the Connecticut Association for Community Action Amos Smith, State Representative Charlie Stallworth, Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center CEO Michael Taylor, and State Representative Toni Walker.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Black church is the foundation of its community, and as clergy, it is our duty to respond with leadership during this time of great crisis,\u201d said Kimber, who serves as pastor of First Calvary Baptist Church, president of the Greater New Haven Clergy Association, and president of the Connecticut State Missionary Baptist Convention.<\/p>\n Established by Emery, a director, and health care advocate triumphing over quadriplegia, Our Humanity strives to counter the paucity of COVID-19 information and messaging aimed specifically at BIPOC communities across the nation.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed many longstanding historical injustices and inequities affecting BIPOC populations, it has also clearly brought to light the fact that we within the BIPOC community must address our needs to prevent future crises in our communities,\u201d said Emery. \u201cWith Our Humanity, it is my intention to bring BIPOC voices to the forefront in the battle to stop COVID, turning we who are often portrayed as inactive victims into the messengers of change.\u201d<\/p>\n Prominent epidemiologist and advisory committee member Dr. Camara Jones said, \u201cBringing together this collective of faith-based organizations is critical in mobilizing communities to take action against COVID-19.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0Presenting information and news by experts from their own communities, Our Humanity and the Collaborative are dedicated to bringing information to Black, Indigenous, and Latinx populations from those who speak their language and understand their cultures and historical sensitivities. Trainings designed and led by URU\u2019s team of public health experts and facilitators will reach members of congregations of participating churches, addressing topics such as preventing the spread of the virus; ways to combat misinformation that is rife within communities of color; and confronting vaccine distrust often found within Black and Latinx communities due to past event. The initiative will also focus on providing Spanish language materials and open town hall conversations to serve the Latinx community.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt is very important that our people receive information they can trust in a way they can understand it. So much of what we are seeing with this pandemic doesn\u2019t include Spanish-speaking Americans. We are being left behind,\u201d said Pastor Josu\u00e9 Rosado, leader of Oasis de Restauraci\u00f3n in New London, Connecticut.<\/p>\n In addition to faith-based organizations, the effort will focus on providing resources and care within low-income public housing communities.<\/p>\n For more information on Our Humanity and its new faith-based collaborative visit the URU website, www.urutherighttobe.org<\/a> or follow them on Instagram Live at @urutherighttobe.<\/p>\n ###<\/p>\n Media contact:<\/p>\n Alimah Boyd<\/p>\n Cheryl Duncan & Company Inc.<\/p>\n