Submitted by Ryma Lindquist, WWH
BALDWIN, WI – The Western Wisconsin Health (WWH) Foundation has received a $30,776 grant from the Wisconsin Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) for Routine Immunization Community Engagement.
In September 2023, The Wisconsin Department of Health and Human Services for Routine Immunization Community Engagement (RICE 2.0) grant program awarded the WWH Foundation $30,776 to initiate new programming that will provide migrant worker vaccine clinics and education. The mission of RICE 2.0 is to protect and promote health and safety of people in Wisconsin and support the Bureau of communicable diseases’ goal to prevent those communicable diseases for which immunizations are available. This can be done through the grant awards to strengthen community engagement, decrease barriers to routine vaccinations, and meet the needs of Wisconsinites, particularly in communities with disproportionately lower vaccinate rates.
“The RICE 2.0 grant will allow WWH to do outreach to a population that may not otherwise receive education or protection against common diseases that are preventable or lower risk with vaccinations,” said Dr. Kathleen Findlay, WWH Lifestyle Medicine Physician.
WWH plans to bring vaccine clinics and education to rural, Spanish speaking migrant workers in western Wisconsin that may otherwise go without vaccinations. WWH will focus its efforts on local agricultural and manufacturing migrant, Spanish speaking workers in western Wisconsin. These individuals are working essential jobs that contribute to our communities, but they face a variety of potential barriers in obtaining vaccines and other healthcare challenges. By bringing the vaccines and education to the migrant workers and their families, WWH hopes to remove barriers, build trust, and provide the opportunity to build long lasting healthcare partnerships.
Unique and new ways to provide innovative services, for the benefit of our communities with barriers to receive these offerings, is key to ensuring everyone is served without inequities. WWH is committed to providing as many holistic services as possible for physical, mental, and social health and wellbeing through ongoing partnerships, new and established. This initiative will serve as the beginning of those efforts for a population that has gone without or not enough for far too long.
WWH will be partnering with Area Healthcare Education Centers (AHEC) Northwest to have healthcare student volunteers as well as local businesses to serve as the vaccine sites for these clinics.
Interested in learning more or how you can help this initiative? Please visit the WWH foundation page: wwhealth.org/contribute.
