COVID-19 Community Engagement and Diverse Media Grantees
Descriptions of grantee projects on this page are grouped by primary community served:
African American community
African immigrant community
American Indian community
Asian Pacific Islander community
Disability community
Hispanic/Latine community
LGBTQ community
Multiple communities
African American
- Grant project description: African American Child Wellness Institute (AACWI) will engage the African American community in addressing the lingering effects of COVID-19 in two ways. AACWI will focus on providing knowledge, support, and resources regarding COVID-19 vaccines and vaccine hesitancy through targeted media campaigns. AACWI will also use various media platforms to establish long COVID-19 support groups and healing circles by offering support, resources, and a space for individuals to share their experiences.
- Primary community served: African American.
- Other community group(s) served: African immigrants, disability communities, and LGBTQ.
- Geography served: Central Minnesota, Northeast Minnesota, Northwest Minnesota, Southeast Minnesota, Southwest Minnesota, and Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media
- Grant project description: BLCK Press will provide COVID-19 and vaccine information to Black residents in Minnesota by sharing up to date MDH information on TV and digital platforms most viewed in the African American community. BLCK Press can achieve this effectively by creating original, accurate, and authentic content that is placed on platforms and in programs trusted by our community.
- Primary community served: African American.
- Other community group(s) served: N/A.
- Geography served: Central Minnesota, Northeast Minnesota, Northwest Minnesota, Southeast Minnesota, Southwest Minnesota, and Twin Cities Metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Diverse media
- Grant project description: Community Partnership Collaborative 2.0 (CPC) aims to deliver impactful COVID-19 vaccine and other COVID-19 related messaging directly to the community, empowering individuals to make informed decisions regarding COVID-19 and vaccination. By providing accessible messages, CPC 2.0 will assist the community in accessing crucial resources, such as COVID-19 vaccinations, COVID-19 testing, and education, ultimately helping communities; improve their quality of life;and helping them improve the social determinants of health.
- Primary community served: African American.
- Other community group(s) served: African immigrants and LGBTQ communities.
- Geography served: Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: Doll Face Media (DFM) proposes a media messaging campaign to promote culturally relevant, appropriate, and accurate COVID-19 vaccination information. DFM’s proposed media campaign We Wear The Mask will promote preventative care and imperative health information to African American (Black) youth through a 30-min COVID-19 education television program; "What's the 411” podcast - a five-part series; public service announcements (PSAs) on television; and radio commercials. Doll Face Media will produce a multimedia messaging campaign that centers on youth between the ages of 12 and18, encouraging them to get vaccinated and encouraging their peers to do the same. The campaign will use local youth, community stakeholders, and influencers to encourage their peers to stop the spread of COVID-19. In addition, DFM will work with local community-based youth programs, schools, and organizations to identify youth to participate as peers for the television, podcast, and television commercials.
- Primary community served: African American.
- Other community group(s) served:N/A.
- Geography served: Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder’s (MSR) campaign is centered on developing a relationship with the audience through lifestyle-branded content. MSR will engage the audience with weekly articles that are uploaded to the website, articles that appear in print newspapers, articles that appear in MSR’s daily newsletter, and articles that appear in MSR’s monthly Parenting Today newsletter. MSR will share these articles via MSR’s social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) and the MSR Digital Indoor Billboard platform. Also, MSR will use banner ads on the website to keep the audience updated on vaccine and other COVID-19 information, events, and best practices. MSR will insert digital assets to lead the audience to COVID-19 content or subject matter experts.
- Primary community served: African American.
- Other community group(s) served: N/A.
- Geography served: Central Minnesota, Northeast Minnesota, Northwest Minnesota, Southeast Minnesota, Southwest Minnesota, and Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Diverse media.
- Grant project description: The podcast "I Got Somethang Ta Say" will create a comprehensive social media campaign across various digital platforms. Through this campaign, the podcast will reach and actively involve the African American community, justice-impacted individuals, and those experiencing homelessness. I Got Somethang Ta Say podcast will creatively share information with its audience and collaborate with African American community leaders to disseminate essential knowledge about COVID-19 vaccines and other COVID-19 related topics, such as health, wellbeing, COVID-19 vaccine facts, and COVID-19 preventive measures.
- Primary community served: African American.
- Other community group(s) served: American Indians and LGBTQ communities.
- Geography served: Central Minnesota, Northeast Minnesota, Northwest Minnesota, Southeast Minnesota, Southwest Minnesota, and Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Diverse media.
- Grant project description: ShelettaMakesMeLaugh will use its podcasting platform, YouTube channel, other social media channels, and community engagement to create an integrated media/marketing plan to share COVID-19 information and messaging that will specifically target Minnesota’s Black/African American community. ShelettaMakesMeLaugh will also collaborate to publicize COVID-19 vaccine clinics and other community events to support strong awareness and participation in the community.
- Primary community served: African American.
- Other community group(s) served:N/A.
- Geography served: Central Minnesota, Southeast Minnesota, Southwest Minnesota, and Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: Through compelling radio ads, social media posts, expert medical interviews, website banners, and KMOJ’s on-air personalities, KMOJ will provide culturally relevant communications to target communities of color with accurate and up-to-date COVID-19 information to address vaccine hesitancy, encourage booster shots, and promote vaccination of youth 12 years and younger. Using tried-and-true platforms, KMOJ will work to reassure communities of color that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective. KMOJ will effectively reach out with messages that are vaccine and nonvaccine related as MDH updates.
- Primary community served: African American.
- Other community group(s) served: Disability and LGBTQ communities.
- Geography served: Central Minnesota and Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Diverse media.
- Grant project description: The Dial Group's Youth Empowerment is a digital media arts and youth leadership program that focuses on training youth to use media as a tool for social good and mentoring young people to take on leadership roles within the community. The program and youth leaders will communicate information about COVID-19 and vaccines that may help to narrow gaps in systemic racism, health care access, and inequities due to socioeconomic status. This work will be fundamentally important in eliminating health disparities for people of color and marginalized community members, particularly in North Minneapolis.
- Primary community served: African American.
- Other community group(s) served: LGBTQ communities.
- Geography served: Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
African immigrant
- Grant project description: Global Healthcare Initiatives (GHI) will create a social media campaign around COVID-19 that will be disseminated through digital platforms. GHI will use existing social media networks to engage community members around COVID-19 and community recovery in spaces where communities gather. GHI will engage the African American community and partner with leaders to share information about COVID-19 vaccines, booster doses, vaccines for youth, testing, masking, and treatment.
- Primary community served: African immigrants, including those from Cameroon, Nigeria, Kenya, Liberia, Ghana, Somalia, Ethiopia, Togo, South Africa, Libya, and Chad.
- Other community group(s) served: African American.
- Geography served: Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: Health Equity Northland will provide a COVID-19 and pandemic recovery resources, media, and community engagement program. Health Equity Northland will provide outreach, engagement, health navigation, and education support addressing community needs by meeting people where they are at to limit barriers to COVID-19 recovery resources, vaccinations, mental-social health, and well-being within the African American and African heritage community in the surrounding Duluth area.
- Primary community served: West African immigrants, including those from Nigeria and Zimbabwe.
- Other community group(s) served: African Americans, American Indians living off reservation, disability communities, and LGBTQ communities.
- Geography served: Northeast Minnesota.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: Kaly Somali American Radio will engage and inform the Somali American community through a range of media platforms, including radio, social media, and online resources, with culturally relevant and accurate information on COVID-19 prevention, testing, treatment, and vaccination. Kaly Somali American Radio will also collaborate with community partners, including local health clinics and COVID-19 community coordinator (CCC) organizations, to provide resources and support for those affected by the pandemic, such as mental health services and housing.
- Primary community served: East African immigrants, including Somali, Oromo, and Kenyan.
- Other community group(s) served: N/A.
- Geography served: Statewide.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: LifeGate Services (LGS) will launch a social media campaign targeting African immigrants in Olmsted and Mower counties to promote the COVID-19 vaccine and address concerns, which will be disseminated across digital platforms. LGS will engage African immigrant high school students in a campaign to promote COVID-19 education and community recovery resources. LGS will distribute COVID-19 educational materials, community recovery resources, and testing kits to African immigrants at its food shelf. LGS will share COVID-19 educational information and community recovery resources with faith-based organization leaders and their members.
- Primary community served: African immigrants, including Somalis, Liberians, Nigerians, Sudanese, Ethiopians, Ghanaians, Congolese, Kenyans, Zambians, Egyptians, Senegalese, and Rwandans.
- Other community group(s) served: African Americans, disability communities, and LGBTQ communities.
- Geography served: Southeast Minnesota.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: Minnesota African Women’s Association (MAWA) will create a COVID-19 education campaign using social and traditional media to be disseminated using digital and print formats. MAWA will engage youth and community leaders using culturally appropriate approaches to share relevant COVID-19 vaccine and related information promoting the health, wellbeing, and self-care of the African community.
- Primary community served: African refugees and immigrants, with a focus on women and on outlying underserved suburbs.
- Other community group(s) served: N/A.
- Geography served: Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: This initiative focuses on organizing critical community influencers to ensure they are well connected to accurate information that they each distribute to their specific community networks. These individuals have demonstrated significant influence within the East African communities of Minnesota. Open Path Resources (OPR) and its partner Islamic Civic Society of America (ICSA) will play lead roles in organizing and supporting these community influencers to address issues related to COVID-19, vaccines, and COVID-19 recovery.
- Primary community served: Somali, Oromo, and Ethiopian communities, and Muslim communities.
- Other community group(s) served: Disability communities.
- Geography served: Central, Northwest, Northeast, Southeast, Southwest Minnesota, and the Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: Oromia 11 will produce and broadcast an array of COVID-19 media messaging and conduct community engagement and outreach strategies that cover COVID-19 vaccine and recovery strategies in a culturally appropriate and relevant manner to the Oromo community and other communities of African descent.
- Primary community served: Oromo- and Amharic-speaking Ethiopian immigrant communities.
- Other community group(s) served: African American and other African immigrant communities.
- Geography served: Statewide.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: Oromo Community of Minnesota (OCM) will implement a series of culturally and linguistically appropriate activities to support the COVID-19 vaccine and recovery efforts within East African communities. In collaboration with esteemed partners like WellShare International and International Oromo Health Professionals Association (IOHPA), as well as media outlets, OCM will translate and distribute COVID-19 resources in East African languages, schedule vaccination clinics, conduct media outreach, raise awareness through social media, develop educational videos on COVID-19 vaccinations, provide home-testing videos in native languages, establish a COVID-19 hotline, and send monthly robocall reminders about upcoming COVID-19 related events.
- Primary community served: Oromo, Somali, Amhara, and Tigray communities.
- Other community group(s) served: N/A.
- Geography served: Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: Somali Success School (SSS) will create a COVID-19 project to create awareness and promote vaccination among Somali immigrants in Minnesota. SSS will accomplish this through culturally specific media, classes, and a partnership with Minneapolis Adult Basic Education.
- Primary Community Served: Somali community.
- Other Community Group(s) Served: Oromo and disability communities
- Geography Served: Twin Cities metropolitan area
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: Somali TV of Minnesota will use different strategies to deliver messages in a timely manner that are culturally relevant and linguistically appropriate. These strategies include interviewing subject matter experts, creating and disseminating short videos, writing digital newsletters, creating digital banners, and writing poetry. These strategies will enable Somali TV of Minnesota to reach a larger audience within the Somali community.
- Primary community served: Somali community.
- Other community group(s) served: Oromo and disability communities.
- Geography served: Statewide.
- Strategy/ies: Diverse media.
- Grant project description: South Sudanese Foundation (SSF) will use tailored COVID-19 media messaging for new Americans using radio, social media, and translation services. SSF's community engagement will use the successful community health consultant model with a health coordinator to disseminate information and engage community members to learn their needs related to COVID-19 recovery. The project will provide an opportunity to share similar health-related aspects that are part of pandemic recovery, including vaccinations that benefit children as they enter school and working adults who have historically experienced lack of health care, thus helping to close the gap in health disparities experienced by the community and demonstrating through trusted sources that they are valuable members of the greater community.
- Primary community served: South Sudanese, Somalian, Nepalese, Congolese, Kurdish, Iraqi, and Bhutanese.
- Other community group(s) served: African American.
- Geography served: Northwest Minnesota.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: Sub-Saharan African Youth & Family Services in Minnesota (SAYFSM) delivers COVID-19-related trusted information, COVID-19 vaccine-related education, and COVID-19 recovery services to African immigrants and refugees living in Minnesota. SAYFSM delivers its services in collaboration with African-born communities, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, and community-based media outlets.
- Primary community served: African immigrants from Oromo, Somali, Kenyan, Ethiopian, and West African communities.
- Other community group(s) served: N/A.
- Geography served: Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: Xidig TV will use various digital communication platforms, such as online, social media, and digital TV boxes, to broadcast COVID-19 and recovery programming in highly trafficked community locations to disseminate culturally appropriate content to address pandemic and support community recovery efforts. Xidig TV will collaborate with partner organization Center for African Immigrants and Refugees Organization (CAIRO) and with the Minnesota Department of Health to increase understanding and participation in COVID-19 testing, vaccinations, and culturally appropriate public health education among the East African communities in Central Minnesota.
- Primary community served: African immigrants, including those from Somali, Oromo, Anuak, and Kenyan communities.
- Other community group(s) served: Disability communities.
- Geography served: Central Minnesota and Southwest Minnesota.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: Youth & Family Circle, Inc. (YFC) will use various media platforms and traditional outreach strategies to provide up-to-date COVID-19 vaccine and other COVID-19 messaging, including translated COVID-19 related materials, vaccine event calendars, and fact sheets, to the East African immigrant population in the Saint Paul community. Distribution of these materials will be through posted mail, at community centers, through in-person visits, and via YFC social media channels. YFC will also distribute or relay current COVID-19 vaccine and other COVID-19-related information through its existing afterschool program, summer camp, food pantry, college/career tour, and summer weekly program.
- Primary community served: East African immigrants.
- Other community group(s) served: African American, Disability communities, and Hispanic/Latine.
- Geography served: Twin Cities metropolitan area and Central Minnesota.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
American Indian
- Grant project description: The American Indian Movement (AIM) Medicine Wheel Healing Project will provide culturally based programming to the American Indian community through new and existing spaces and places for connecting community members to culturally appropriate pandemic recovery resources, such as mental health, food, employment, and housing support. AIM will also use cultural engagement based on trauma-informed cultural methods to host community conversations and collect data to find ways to further support the community. AIM will also host a youth art contest to promote wellness, prevention, and recovery from COVID-19 by youth, for youth.
- Primary community served: American Indians living off reservation.
- Other community group(s) served: Leech Lake tribal community, Red Lake tribal community, disability communities, and LGBTQ communities.
- Geography served: Northwest Minnesota, Southwest Minnesota, and Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: The Association of Minnesota Public Educational Radio Stations (Ampers) will partner with the Minnesota Department of Health, the Native American Community Clinic, and the Minnesota Council on Disability to create culturally specific COVID-19 educational radio segments, shows, and social media posts. The culturally specific segments and shows will air on up to 13 of Ampers community radio stations throughout the state. Ampers will engage Native American elders as well as Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) health care workers to help make the segments more relevant, engaging, and impactful. The segments and shows will share personal stories and experiences with the goal of motivating listeners to take steps to protect themselves from COVID-19 and to help them to recover from the physical, mental, and emotional impacts of the pandemic.
- Primary community served: Fond du Lac, Leech Lake, Bois Forte, White Earth.
- Other community group(s) served: African Americans, American Indians living off reservation, disability communities, and LGBTQ communities.
- Geography served: Northwest Minnesota, Southwest Minnesota, and Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Diverse media.
- Grant project description: An annual airtime strategy using previously created MDH COVID-19 vaccination and community wellness messaging will further the awareness and well-being of Indigenous communities throughout Minnesota. GoodHealthTV® will produce four 30-second culturally inclusive public service announcements outlining the latest COVID-19 response and community wellness information. In addition, to further spread the message throughout Minnesota tribal communities, GoodHealthTV will offer five GoodHealthTV® subscriptions free of charge to support the COVID-19 airtime.
- Primary community served: Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Lower Sioux Indian Community, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, White Earth Nation, and Minneapolis urban Indian communities.
- Other community group(s) served: N/A.
- Geography served: Central Minnesota, Northeast Minnesota, Northwest Minnesota, Southeast Minnesota, Southwest Minnesota, and Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Diverse media.
- Grant project description: JR Broadcasting and Native Roots Radio will produce and air weekly 60-second ads on COVID-19 and vaccination updates, with monthly or quarterly updates as directed by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). The campaign will also feature three Native American symposiums with community leaders as speakers. Native Roots Radio will coordinate the symposiums and provide live broadcasts. The campaign aims to educate and encourage Native American communities about COVID-19 and to take necessary precautions and get vaccinated.
- Primary community served: American Indians living off-reservation.
- Other community group(s) served: African Americans, LGBTQ communities.
- Geography served: Central Minnesota, Northeast Minnesota, Northwest Minnesota, and Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Diverse media.
- Grant project description: The Leech Lake Tribal College (LLTC) project's primary objective is to promote positive messaging around the COVID-19 vaccine, COVID-19 safety practices, and recovery efforts within the community. The college recognizes that Native American people have experienced historical trauma in their interactions with the US health care system, which has contributed to the lack of culturally relevant health information in their communities. By leveraging its position as a trusted voice within the Leech Lake Nation, LLTC hopes to provide a safe and informative platform to help dispel vaccine myths and encourage the adoption of effective COVID-19 safety and recovery practices. The college will use its media channels and printed materials to disseminate critical information and engage with the community to encourage vaccine uptake, COVID-19 safety practices, and recovery efforts.
- Primary community served: Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.
- Other community group(s) served: American Indians living off-reservation.
- Geography served: Central Minnesota, Northeast Minnesota, Northwest Minnesota, and Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: Zintkala Luta’s Empowering Native Americans initiative will mobilize Native American communities to engage in COVID-19 vaccination through its Intergenerational Summer Garden Mentorship to mitigate the COVID-19 impacts and encourage more summer gardening with Native herbs, along with Native heritage language learning with youth. Zintkala Luta (ZL) will support the in-person vaccination events by mobilizing Native Americans to get vaccines, especially seniors and LGBTQ communities, at recovery centers, Native schools, and Powwow events. With this initiative, ZL will host a social media campaign in both English and Native heritage languages statewide to mobilize members to get vaccines.
- Primary community served: American Indians living off reservation.
- Other community group(s) served: Disability communities and LGBTQ communities.
- Geography served: Central Minnesota, Northeast Minnesota, Northwest Minnesota, Southeast Minnesota, Southwest Minnesota, and Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
Asian Pacific Islander
- Grant project description: Asian Media Access (AMA) will create a social media campaign called The Magic of Coming Together that will be pushed out on all digital platforms. AMA will engage with and train one cohort of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) youth to creatively develop vaccination awareness videos and host a Youth Talent Festival incorporating positive COVID-19 messaging to continue bringing awareness to COVID-19 and include artistic performances. AMA will partner with local charter schools and senior care organizations to support community outreach and engagement activities. AMA will advocate, support, and partner with COVID-19 community coordinator (CCC) organizations with community vaccination clinics. AMA will also share information about COVID-19 vaccines and other COVID-19-related recovery topics, including mental health, well-being, and self-care with Asian Pacific Islander (API) and other diverse communities.
- Primary community served: Pan Asian immigrants and refugees, including Asian Indian, Cambodian, Chinese, Hmong, Indonesian, Karen, Karenni, Korean, Thai, and Vietnamese.
- Other community group(s) served: Pan African and Latine immigrants and refugees, through French, Oromo, Somali, and Swahili, and LGBTQ communities.
- Geography served: Central Minnesota Northeast Minnesota, Southeast Minnesota, and Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement
- Grant project description: The Center for Community Services (CCS) project under this grant will be to accurately translate and adapt Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) COVID-19 vaccination and other COVID-19-related messages into Chinese languages. CCS will disseminate them through community websites, social media (WeChat), newspapers, and emails to the Chinese community in Minnesota with a same-day turnaround. CCS’s COVID-19 hotline will be accessible to targeted Chinese Americans, including seniors and youth in Minnesota. Quarterly seminars will be held to discuss community-specific COVID-19 concerns. They will be held both online and in person at the CCS office location in St. Paul, Minnesota.
- Primary community served: Chinese.
- Other community group(s) served: N/A.
- Geography served: Central Minnesota, Northeast Minnesota, Southwest Minnesota, and Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: Hmong Today will work in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to place MDH-produced COVID-19 vaccine and other COVID-19 related materials as half page ads in newsprint. The ads will be in Hmong and English languages. Hmong Today newsprint ads will promote healthy choices to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Hmong Today newsprint reaches 25,000 readers.
- Primary community served: Hmong.
- Other community group(s) served: Karen, Burmese.
- Geography served: Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Diverse media.
- Grant project description: The goal of Project PAB: Providing And Building COVID-19 Health Literacy and Recovery in Hmong Community Members is to increase COVID-19 knowledge, protective behaviors, and recovery in the Hmong community. Kaleidoscope will partner with various organizations (including elder centers, college student associations, Hmong clans, schools, and community-based organizations) to implement proposed activities, including question and answer educational sessions, booster shot coordination, volleyball sports tournament, surveys, social media, and other media messages, to engage a wide variety of Hmong audiences across Minnesota. In turn, the increased and diversified engagement will lead to a more health literate and informed Hmong community equipped to counter and recover from ongoing COVID-19 issues.
- Primary community served: Hmong.
- Other community group(s) served: Disability communities.
- Geography served: Central Minnesota, Southeast Minnesota, Southwest Minnesota, and Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: The Karen Football Association (KFA) will use KFA Digital, a digital marketing program within the KFA organization, to produce COVID-19 vaccine and other COVID-19 related resources. KFA will use video production, graphic design, and digital marketing tools. Materials produced will be translated into Karen and Karenni languages for the Karen and Karenni communities. KFA will partner with local organizations and businesses to contribute to the production and distribution of these materials. Materials will also be distributed through social media platforms (Facebook) and Karen online TV streaming.
- Primary community served: Karen, Karenni, and refugee communities of Burma.
- Other community group(s) served: African American, East African, Hispanic/Latine, disability communities, and LGBTQ communities.
- Geography Served: Central Minnesota, Southeast Minnesota, Southwest Minnesota, and Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Diverse media.
- Grant project description: Khoo Consulting LLC will communicate and engage with the communities most impacted by inequities around COVID-19 messaging with a focus on Asian Pacific Islander (API) immigrants and refugees. Khoo Consulting LLC will use existing data, resources and programs relevant to API immigrant and refugee COVID-19 barriers, preferred engagement approaches, and communication platforms to help inform the project. Khoo Consulting LLC will conduct additional research with the API immigrant and refugee community members through online surveys, phone interviews, and focus groups in partnership with local community organizations. COVID-19 vaccine and other related COVID-19 information and resources will be disseminated through in-person community events, social media platforms (Facebook), YouTube (3HmongTV), and online radio streaming (iHeartMedia).
- Primary community served: Hmong, Karen, Karenni.
- Other community group(s) served: Disability communities.
- Geography served: Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
Disability
- Grant project description: Access Press promotes the social inclusion and civil rights of people with disabilities by providing a forum for news, features, opinion, and discourse to benefit people who are often invisible and marginalized by mainstream society. Through this grant, Access Press will provide COVID-19 information and articles in formats for the print newspaper and website and on social media. Access Press is a key conduit for COVID-19 information that will educate and connect people with disabilities to COVID-19 vaccination events and provide educational articles and personal stories to readers and followers.
- Primary community served: Disability communities.
- Other community group(s) served: N/A.
- Geography served: Statewide.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description Communication Service for the Deaf Inc. (CSD) aims to strengthen our community support by learning and promoting the needs of Deaf Minnesotans through a series of focus groups, and American Sign Language (ASL) videos posted on social media. These materials will focus on vaccination and other related COVID-19 topics, updating and marketing CSD’s designated health website, and partnering with community based organizations to share critical COVID-19 information.
- Primary community served: Deaf community.
- Other community group(s) served: N/A.
- Geography served: Statewide.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: Keystone Interpreting Solutions Inc. (KIS) will work with MDH and other organizations to translate existing COVID-19 videos to American Sign Language (ASL). Two versions of the video translation will be created, one for the ASL community and one for the DeafBlind community. Accessible videos will be disseminated to provide COVID-19 to a targeted audience in Minnesota. KIS will collaborate with COVID COMMUNITY COORDINATOR leads to support and provide ASL translation at COVID-19 vaccination events, as needed. QR codes displaying information on COVID-19 in ASL and ASL translation will be added to existing messages and new COVID-19 information to make these materials accessible.
- Primary community served: Deaf community.
- Other community group(s) served: African Americans, immigrants from Africa, Asia, and Latin America who are deaf and hard of hearing, LGBTQ communities, and other deaf, deafblind, hard-of-hearing communities.
- Geography served: Statewide.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: The Multicultural Autism Action Network (MAAN), together with community partners, will support the provision of sensory friendly COVID-19 vaccine clinics in a variety of locations throughout the metro area. MAAN and its partners will also provide training to medical professionals on how to serve neurodiverse pediatric patients with updated curriculum based on lessons learned from previous COVID-19 vaccine clinics.
- Primary community served: Autism disability community.
- Other community group(s) served: Families of children with autism, including African Americans, Somali, Oromo, American Indians, Asian Pacific Islanders, Hispanic/Latine, and LGBTQ communities.
- Geography served: Twin cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: Southern Minnesota Independent Living Enterprises Services (SMILES Center for Independent Living) is a nonprofit organization that advocates serving people with any type of disability and people of all ages. Smiles serves Southern Minnesota’s Region Nine with offices in Fairmont, Mankato, New Ulm, and Waseca. Our consumers use a variety of media, both traditional and digital. SMILES will place advertisements in local regional newspapers as well as on radio; boosting our advertising will help share COVID-19 messaging. COVID-19 materials will be shared and incorporated into regular programs in addition to static messaging through posters where the people with disabilities gather.
- Primary community served: Disability communities.
- Other community group(s) served: N/A.
- Geography served: Southwest Minnesota.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
Hispanic/Latine
- Grant project description: Centro Tyrone Guzman’s work around COVID-19 messaging and engagement is designed to help overcome the systemic barriers and connect Latine community members to accurate, up-to-date information about COVID-19 vaccines and other COVID-19-related topics. Centro Tyrone Guzman will partner with subject matter experts and community organizations to have community conversations to address questions and vaccine hesitancies around COVID-19 vaccines and to connect people to other COVID-19 pandemic recovery supports and resources. Centro Tyrone Guzman aims to create and disseminate messaging that resonates with Latine community members of all ages to increase understanding of and engagement around COVID-19 vaccines and recovery.
- Primary community served: Hispanic/Latine.
- Other community group(s) served: LGBTQ.
- Geography served: Twin cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement.
- Grant project description: The Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC) will deploy a community engagement and outreach campaign about COVID-19 vaccine focusing on the Latine entrepreneur community. LEDC's strategy will reach the Latine entrepreneur community in Minnesota to deliver vaccination and share up-to-date COVID-19 health recommendations. LEDC plans to engage Latine-owned business communities through in-person and virtual meetings, one-on-one conversations, social media, and other channels, such as website, electronic newsletters, and print collateral. LEDC’s employees will be trained in navigating potentially difficult conversations about vaccinations and COVID-19 safe business practices.
- Primary community served: Hispanic/Latine.
- Other community group(s) served: Mixed-race all other origins.
- Geography served: Central Minnesota, Southeast Minnesota, Southwest Minnesota, and Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement.
- Grant project description: Media Vista Minneapolis LLC, an affiliate of Univision Minnesota, will create messaging for the Latine community that helps reinforce the need for vaccines and COVID-19 prevention. Media Vista Minneapolis LLC will use a combination of public service announcements (PSA), television vignettes (dedicated for certain calendar holidays), community engagement videos, social media, and educational interviews with community leaders to disseminate messaging for vaccine and COVID-19-related topics.
- Primary community served: Hispanic/Latine.
- Other community group(s) served: Disability and LGBTQ communities.
- Geography served: Central Minnesota, Southeast Minnesota, Southwest Minnesota, and Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Diverse media.
- Grant project description: MLatino Media will plan and implement a statewide digital media advertising campaign to create awareness and present updates about COVID-19 among those who identify themselves as part of the Hispanic, Latinx, or Latino Community in Minnesota, amplifying the messaging and efforts related to COVID-19 from the Minnesota Department of Health and/or community partners. Through new and traditional media activities anchored by El Minnesota de Hoy and other partners, this comprehensive effort will encompass a series of elements that will daily display, inform, and remind the audiences about the current status of a pandemic.
- Primary community served: Hispanic/Latine.
- Other community group(s) served: N/A.
- Geography served: Statewide.
- Strategy/ies: Diverse media.
- Grant project description: NewPublica will distribute culturally and linguistically appropriate and adapted COVID-19 messaging from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to the community via various digital media channels and community engagements. In addition, NewPublica is partnering with TPT NOW to produce a series of media capsules and “digital bites” (short-form digital media) around relevant COVID-19 topics determined by and with the Hmong, Somali, and Latine communities. NewPublica will recruit multiple trusted members from each community to serve as consultants and spokespeople appearing in the capsules, such as radio personalities, educators, religious leaders, and others. These community members will highlight diversity among each community (age, gender identity, nationality, etc.) and will be filmed in community settings and in the community members’ native languages and/or English. These capsules will provide culturally relevant sound bites that inspire actions to prevent, address, and mitigate the impacts of COVID-19. NewPublica and TPT NOW will activate a combined distribution network and digital platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Google, and YouTube) to effectively reach the intended communities. NewPublica’s network includes owned digital media channels (Vida y Sabor, La Prensa de Minnesota, NewPrensa) and well-established partnerships with multicultural community-based organizations and media partners in the Latine, Somali, and Hmong communities. TPT NOW’s distribution "HUB” includes cultural media outlets (broadcast/online/social), and community partners willing to help distribute content reaching English language learning communities.
- Primary community served: Hispanic/Latine.
- Other community group(s) served: Somali, Hmong.
- Geography served: Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: Northfield Healthy Community Initiative will conduct the Growing Up Healthy program that uses community engagement and media messaging to connect Rice County residents (with a focus on the Hispanic/Latine community) to well-sourced information about COVID-19 and ongoing pandemic recovery resources. Goals will include increasing understanding of public health guidance, and encouraging preventative behaviors like vaccination, masking, and social distancing. Messaging will explain how those measures can benefit families in both the short and long term.
- Primary community served: Hispanic/Latine.
- Other community group(s) served: Somali.
- Geography served: Central Minnesota, Southeast Minnesota, Southwest Minnesota, and Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement.
- Grant project description: RicoLatino LLC will use brand-new, creative concepts (not translations) to develop COVID-19 and other related COVID-19 messages for Minnesota’s Hispanic community in English, Spanish, and/or Spanglish languages, with a focus on cultural relevance. RicoLatino LLC will promote vaccination and other COVID-19 messages via social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. RicoLatino LLC will also promote these messages in print media with Latino American Today newspaper and disseminate to local Latin communities.
- Primary community served: Hispanic/Latine.
- Other community group(s) served: N/A.
- Geography served: Southeast Minnesota.
- Strategy/ies: Diverse media.
- Grant project description: La Raza Radio will share COVID-19 vaccine and other COVID-19-related information from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) on La Raza radio in the Spanish language. The COVID-19 vaccine and other COVID-19-related information will be shared through daily 30-second announcements on the radio; in virtual display ads and a monthly e-newsletter; and on social media postings, such as on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, targeting Latine Minnesotans and LaRaza.com.
- Primary community served: Hispanic/Latine.
- Other community group(s) served: Disability communities, LBGTQ communities.
- Geography served: Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Diverse media.
LBGTQ community
- Grant project description: Bottomless Coffee builds and holds space for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and more (LGBTQ+), and other communities that helps people learn, grow, and thrive. Content related to COVID-19 will be shared in television shows, during podcasts, and in social media posts. All content is intentionally designed to inspire, empower, and educate community members about COVID-19.
- Primary community served: LGBTQ.
- Other community group(s) served: N/A.
- Geography served: Statewide.
- Strategy/ies: Diverse media.
- Grant project description: Encouraging Leaders (EL) will drive the COVID-19 health education program to reduce vaccine hesitancy among the BIPOC LGBTQIA+ community. This will be achieved through social media and a TIKTOK challenge to share information about COVID-19 vaccine updates and to educate the community on COVID-19 guidelines and recovery resources. In addition, EL will use the support of LGBTQ+ partners and community leaders to influence vaccination registration.
- Primary community served: LGBTQ and youth.
- Other community group(s) served: N/A.
- Geography served: Twin cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: Philanthrofund Foundation (PFund) will work with a variety of audiences within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and more (LGBTQ+) communities across Minnesota to help them stay safe and healthy while learning about COVID-19. The work will focus on a COVID-19 media campaign on all channels, including social media platforms, print publications, advertising, and through relationships in the community. PFund will connect with audiences at Pride festivals, in familiar publications, and in connection with other LGBTQ+ organizations in the community to educate and inform about COVID-19.
- Primary community served: LGBTQ and youth.
- Other community group(s) served: N/A.
- Geography served: Statewide.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: Through the use of diverse media, community engagement, and outreach strategies, Transforming Generations will engage the LGBTQ+ and Hmong community in culturally relevant COVID-19 messaging; increase access to COVID-19 resources by providing at-home COVID-19 test kits; share information on vaccination clinics; and disseminate COVID-19 personal protective equipment that encourages preventative practices at home. In addition, Transforming Generations will collaborate with youth to create media content as well as partner with culturally-specific community organizations and coalitions to maximize reach.
- Primary community served: Hmong and LGBTQ.
- Other community group(s) served: N/A.
- Geography served: Twin cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: Twin Cities Quorum (Quorum) will create a campaign to ensure that the LGBTQ+ communities receive accurate COVID-19 information and recovery support through a variety of digital/social/print media platforms and in-person education. Quorum will work in close partnership with businesses, organizations, and community leaders to provide information and support regarding topics like vaccine awareness and mitigating the social and economic impacts of the pandemic, including job loss and work changes. Through this project, Quorum is working to encourage adherence to vaccination and public health guidelines, promote community resiliency, and develop long-term and effective COVID-19 recovery strategies.
- Primary community served: Hmong and LGBTQ.
- Other community group(s) served: N/A.
- Geography served: Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
Multiple communities
- Grant project description: Community Health Service Inc. (CHSI) will increase awareness and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines and post-COVID-19 recovery programs and services in three counties of Minnesota(Clay, Olmsted, and Kandiyohi). This will be preceded by an in-depth evaluation of community needs through focus group discussions. CHSI will use the findings of the assessment to design and deploy a comprehensive media campaign that will reach at least 50,000 people with information about availability and access to COVID-19 vaccines and post-COVID-19 recovery programs and services.
- Primary community served: Hispanic/Latine, African immigrant, African American, disability and LGBTQ communities.
- Other community group(s) served: N/A.
- Geography served: Northwest Minnesota, Southeast Minnesota, and Southwest Minnesota.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: Community of Angels (COA) will convene COVID-19 focus group discussions, town hall meetings, and other community events to identify misinformation, disinformation, and other barriers to using COVID-19 resources and services, and educate vulnerable communities via social and traditional media platforms, dispelling identified themes of misinformation and disinformation and providing evidence-based information and resources to combat COVID-19 and engage and connect vulnerable communities to COVID-19 resources.
- Primary community served: African immigrants and disability communities.
- Other community group(s) served: African American, Hmong, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, Mexicans, and Puerto Ricans.
- Geography served: Central Minnesota, Northwest Minnesota, and Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: The Hmong Outreach Network will engage the Minnesota Southeast Asian community through creative media and community events, with specific focus on Hmong, queer/LGBTQ, college youth, persons with disabilities, and seniors. Information shared will include where to find COVID-19 resources and culturally affirming messaging around mental health, self-care, and resources. This is done through both in-person outreach activities and over virtual spaces, such as public celebrations, concerts, and video messaging.
- Primary community served: Asian Pacific Islander.
- Other community group(s) served: Disability and LGBTQ communities.
- Geography served: Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: KFAI will create, broadcast, and stream radio interviews and short testimonials, featuring voices representing BIPOC and LGBTQIA2+ communities sharing COVID-19 vaccination advocacy and pandemic recovery information. KFAI will also connect Minnesotans with COVID-19 vaccination and pandemic recovery resources through social media campaigns and translated PSA messages. Lastly, with KFAI's weekly segment, the MN Dose, KFAI will share news, information, and timely studies pertaining to COVID-19 vaccination and recovery resources. All segments will be broadcasted on 90.3 FM in the Twin Cities and at KFAI.org.
- Primary community served: African American, Somali, Oromo, Ethiopian, Eritrean Hmong, Filipino, Vietnamese, LGBTQ communities, and Hispanic/Latine.
- Other community group(s) served: N/A.
- Geography served: Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Diverse media.
- Grant project description: McFarlane Media Interests Inc. (MMI) publishes Insight News, a community newspaper that serves people of color in Minnesota. MMI is also an innovator in new media that serves people of color and facilitates authentic, meaningful engagement around health and well-being, particularly in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. MMI’s print and digital media target Minnesota’s African, Afro-Latino and African American populations. Advertisements about COVID-19 vaccination and COVID-19 recovery will be strategically placed in print issues of Insight News and during digital programming, so critical COVID-19 information and messages will reach the communities served.
- Primary community served: African American, Afro Latino populations from Venezuela, Columbia, Brazil, and Central American Afro immigrants.
- Other community group(s) Served: N/A.
- Geography served: Print - Twin Cities Metropolitan area, with a focus on North Minneapolis, South Minneapolis, and Rondo/Midway area of St. Paul; Digital - statewide.
- Strategy/ies: Diverse media.
- Grant project description: LeadMN is an association of college students connecting for change in higher education. LeadMN will expand efforts to communicate and publicize information about COVID-19 to students and to encourage them to get the COVID-19 vaccine. This project focuses on colleges in greater Minnesota that have vaccine rates below 60%. LeadMN will hire student outreach coordinators to create and offer peer to peer education and COVID-19 vaccine encouragement. Programming, social media, and speaking in classes will be targeted to reach multicultural student groups on campus and to collect student stories about why they got vaccinated. Health equity committees will be convened at five colleges to coordinate communication and outreach activities. Each committee will be comprised of students, faculty, and staff to ensure all parts of the campus community are reached.
- Primary community served: African American, East African, West African, Hmong, Mexican, and LGBTQ communities.
- Other community group(s) served: N/A.
- Geography served: Statewide.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: Neighborhood Health Care Network dba Federally Qualified Urban Health Network (FUHN)) is partnering with the SoLaHmo Partnership for Health & Wellness (SoLaHmo), a community-driven qualitative research program, to create a series of radio novellas about families who chose to vaccinate against COVID-19. The aim is to combat COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in immigrant communities that have been targeted by anti-vaccination campaigns and misinformation. FUHN and SoLaHmo team will create tailored radio novellas for the Somali, Latino, Hmong, and Native American communities, featuring personal stories of people from the community in Somali, Spanish, Hmong, and English, respectively.
- Primary community served: Somali, Hispanic/Latine, Hmong, and Native American.
- Other community group(s) served: African American, disability communities, and LGBTQ communities.
- Geography served: Northeast Minnesota, Southwest Minnesota, and Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement and diverse media.
- Grant project description: The ANIKA Foundation will design and implement a media and community engagement strategy designed to reach the African American, LGBTQ+, and potentially other communities of color in Benson, Sherburne, Stearns, Ramsey, and Hennepin Counties. The media and engagement strategy will reach community members through trusted channels that will include youth and parents in Minneapolis and St. Paul families.
- Primary community served: African American and LGBTQ communities.
- Other community group(s) served: American Indians living off-reservation, Hmong, disability communities, Hispanic/Latine, and LGBTQ communities.
- Geography served: Northeast Minnesota, Southwest Minnesota, and Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strateg/ies: Community engagement.
- Grant project description: The Youth and AIDS Projects (YAP) understands that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), health care, and other social issues are intertwined. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, these connections have been illuminated; YAP firmly believes COVID-19 prevention is HIV prevention. With this link to COVID-19 in mind, YAP will conduct outreach/education and create an online resource portal – all guided by community input that will be compiled into a readily available scholarly article.
- Primary community served: African American, African immigrants, Hispanic/Latine, and LGBTQ communities.
- Other community group(s) served: Youth.
- Geography served: Twin Cities metropolitan area.
- Strategy/ies: Community engagement.