Adelante Gets COVID-19 Vaccinated: In the Name of Solidarity, Vacúnate ya!
Written by Kaely Summers, Health Equity Manager at Adelante Mujeres.
Monica Rada, Adelante Mujeres’s Strategic Project Manager, receives her second COVID-19 vaccination at Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center.
Generally speaking, as Americans, we value our independence, our individual freedoms, our rights to say, do, and act as we please. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, has made us aware that there are some very necessary limitations to those values and freedoms. The pandemic has also been an opportunity to highlight our interdependence on one another as a global community and practice one of Adelante Mujeres’ core values: to live in solidarity with the community.
That is why Adelante Mujeres has continued to provide services and programs throughout the COVID-19 crisis. It is also the reason why some staff have stayed home and adapted to supporting participants virtually. And, while we shutdown, while our Early Childhood Education Program to retool for safety, staff, in early July, our staff returned to the classroom to provide childcare for essential workers. Being in solidarity looks like many things. Sometimes it means staying home, and other times it means masking up. Most recently, it has looked like getting vaccinated to keep our community healthy!
Kaely Summers, Health Equity Manager, after she received her first COVID-19 vaccination.
As the Health Equity Manager at Adelante Mujeres, I work to improve the health of Latinx children and families through education, access to nutritious foods, and advocating for more equitable distribution of resources and systems that determine health. Most recently, I led a project to get our staff vaccinated.
Staff at Adelante Mujeres became eligible for the vaccine under the Oregon Health Authorities’ criteria in Phase 1a and 1b because we are a community-based organization with direct and indirect exposure, and we are an early-learning center.
When we got the opportunity to get vaccinated at Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Clinic, I scrambled to help organize the process, answer questions, and invite healthcare professionals to our all-staff monthly meeting to educate us all on the COVID-19 vaccine. Then when it was my turn to get vaccinated, I too, happily registered for an appointment.
But our staff had mixed feelings about getting vaccinated.
“I found out at work that I would be getting the vaccine,” said Maria Esther, one of our Preschool Promise teachers, “but I had so many questions and I was fearful of what reaction my body might have.”
Marisol, another teacher, also remembers that when she found out she was eligible for the vaccine, there were so many rumors going around and misinformation. At the same time, both Maria Esther and Marisol were hopeful because getting the vaccine meant they would be able to see family again and not live with so much stress.
Sara Santiago, Chicas Family Engagement Coordinator, gets vaccinated.
As much as the Early Childhood Education staff loves working with children, and with as many safety protocols as we implemented, the teachers were still taking a risk every day they came into work. “Knowing I would be getting the vaccine meant hope for life for me, my family, and really the whole world,” said Maria Esther.
As COVID-19 infections rose and the death toll reached unimaginable numbers, this idea of interdependence continued to loom overhead as both an opportunity to show global unity and a constant daily challenge.
“I’ve never felt more interdependent with the broader community than I do now.” Beatriz, our Marketing Specialist, said. “You can take every precaution for yourself and your family but are left feeling at the mercy of everyone else and their willingness to do their part as well. Simple things like going to the grocery store turned into depending on everyone else to wear a mask, keep their distance, and cooperate with store protocols.”
As one of the Chicas Youth Facilitators, Brianda, optimistically shared, “Community is what will get us through this. Whether you were packaging or delivering meals/food for food drives or sharing information about local resources with your family, friends, and social media. Everyone is stepping up to help. Food insecurity, money insecurity, are all things many of Americans were dealing with before the pandemic. This was our wake-up call to unify, be kinder, and more compassionate about the people within our community.”
Xandi Aranda, Director of Finance
But let’s be real, this vaccine roll-out process has been confusing, frustrating, and continues to feel inequitable. When Virginia Garcia reached out to us, it did feel strange that we would be getting our vaccines before some seniors, migrant farm workers, and grocery store checkers.
“Honestly, I felt a bit frustrated that I was getting it before my parents who are 70 and 63. I was ashamed to tell them that I, a person who is young, healthy, and working from home, would get it before them,” shared Beatriz. “I thought, if I could give mine up so that my mom, who is 63 and has been working all throughout the pandemic under difficult circumstances, could get it, I would. Nonetheless, I was extremely grateful and anxious to receive it.”
At the end of the day, by working with Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center, staff from Adelante Mujeres and other Washington County community-based organizations were able to help fill in last-minute open appointments, which ultimately helped the clinics reduce the chances of wasting vaccine doses. By filling all possible appointments, Virginia Garcia was also able to demonstrate to the State their ability to get shots in arms and request more doses.
“I feel grateful to have received the vaccine so early,” says Carina, Chicas Program Coordinator. “It is such a privilege and I do not take it lightly as this past year was challenging and heartbreaking for so many. To me, receiving the vaccine signifies that we are moving forward and will soon return to lives that we can recognize as "normal."”
So, as much trepidation or guilt we felt, accepting that we were now eligible was one more way we could show our solidarity and continue serving the community in a safer way.
Petrona Dominguez Francisco, Advocacy & Leadership Program Coordinator
As an education-centered organization, our work hasn’t stopped at getting vaccinated. Adelante Mujeres staff have also seen their experiences throughout the process as another tool to calm community fear and dispel misinformation.
Andrea, Adelante’s Grants Manager, said that being in solidarity with the community is like “being an example and another resource for the community in terms of vaccine education. Additionally, [we can] advocate for more of our community to be vaccinated, our brothers and sisters of color.”
It felt like my civic responsibility was to get vaccinated against COVID-19. That idea was reinforced after my first shot when I was handed an “I got vaccinated” sticker like a throwback to the “I voted” stickers.
Anna, our Marketing Manager, also shared this feeling. “Getting my vaccine felt like casting my ballot during an election. It’s a small act but far from insignificant. It feels good to be a small part of something big.”
And just like the first women who gained the right to vote, this privilege, this opportunity, this golden ticket, came with great emotions.
Daniela, our Farmers Market and Farm Business Manager, shared, “My Covid-19 vaccination experience was very emotional. I cried and felt immense gratitude for all the people in the medical community and the staff at Adelante that made this possible. It is so hard to put into words what it means to be able to dream about re-joining community, with some semblance of normalcy, especially in what has felt like one of the most challenging and isolating years of my life. Thank you!”
Sonia Reyes, Director of Human Resources
Patricia Alvarado, Director of Education Programs and Lupe Hernandez, Beyond Trauma Coordinator
Patricia Alvarado, Director of Education Programs
Mayra Hernandez, Health and Nutrition Coordinator
Norma Hernandez, Early Childhood Education Coordinator
A group of Adelante Mujeres staff waits in the post-vaccine area.
Evelyn Cantoral, Director of Development
Daniela Perez, Farmer's Market and Farm Business Manager
Andrea Chunga-Celis, Grants Manager
Anna Yeager, Marketing Manager
Xochitl Alonso, Oregon Worker Relief Fund Coordinator
Bridget Cooke, Co-Founder and Executive Director
Thank you to everyone who helped create and distribute a COVID-19 vaccine. We are especially grateful for our local partnership with Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Clinic. We also want to share our sincere sympathy to all the people who lost loved ones to this pandemic and thank everyone for doing your part, big or small, every day, to contribute to this global group project. So, in the name of solidarity, vacúnate ya!
Kaely Summers is the Health Equity Manager at Adelante Mujeres. She has lived abroad in Peru and has a deep interest in nutrition and food systems.