The COVID-19 Community Education Task Force was formed in January 2021 to bring information about vaccine and COVID-19 safety to the Baltimore community. The task force, comprised of Johns Hopkins employees and allies, coordinated and developed dozens of events, campaigns and resources between January and September of 2021. This report gives an overview of the many projects completed by the task force throughout that time.
The Mayor’s Office and Johns Hopkins entered into a collaboration to advise houses of worship on strategies to safely reopen as coronavirus-related guidance evolved.
As part of the medical-religious collaboration, a virtual event guiding faith-based organizations to reopen safely was held.
Interested faith organizations could sign up to participate in the pilot COVID-19 recommendation program.
The medical religious partnership has served 9 places of worship as of September 2021.
A workgroup was created to oversee the partnership and coordinate with Baltimore City.
The Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods, Baltimore City Health Department and Johns Hopkins Medicine and University entered into a collaboration to advise houses of worship of all faiths on strategies to safely reopen as coronavirus-related guidance evolved.
On April 26 a press event featuring Sherita Golden, Panagis Galiatsatos, Mayor Brandon Scott, Commissioner Letitia Dzirasa and Bishop James Nelson, was held.
The press conference was covered by multiple area media groups, including:
As part of the medical-religious collaboration, a virtual event guiding faith-based organizations to reopen safely was held May 25. It had the largest turnout of any that the Scott administration had hosted at the time. Lisa Maragakis, Lisa Cooper, Panagis Galiatsatos, and Sherita Golden served on the panel during this event.
An outline of the event and all recommendations can be found in our newsroom.
The Baltimore City Mayor's Office created a web form where interested faith organizations could sign up to participate in the pilot program. The website link was shared with community organizations and Baltimore City faith groups and promoted through internal Johns Hopkins communications channels.
Twenty houses of worship (approximately five from each quadrant of the city) were selected to participate in the pilot program. Factors including order of sign up, projected reopening date, size and current level of COVID-19 preparation were used to make selections.
Each city quadrant is defined in accordance with the following ZIP codes:
Quadrant 1 (Purple): 21208, 21209, 21215, 21207, 21216, 21217, 21210, 21211
Quadrant 2 (Blue): 21212, 21239, 21234, 21236, 21251, 21214, 21206, 21218, 21213, 21237
Quadrant 3 (Green): 21202, 21287, 21231, 21224, 21222, 21225, 21226
Quadrant 4 (Orange): 21229, 21223, 21201, 21228, 21227, 21230, 21225
As of Sept. 20, 2021, the medical religious partnership has served 9 places of worship in Baltimore City including:
Muslim Community Cultural Center of Baltimore
Rebirth Tabernacles of Glory
Union Baptist Church
The New Metropolitan Baptist Church
Providence Baptist Church
Greater Gethsemane Ministries
Ray of Hope Baptist Church
Israel Baptist Church of Baltimore City
The Seed Church
A workgroup consisting of the following individuals was created to oversee the partnership and coordinate with Baltimore City throughout the process. The workgroup meets weekly and is led and managed by Nondie Hemphill and Jeanne Hitchcock.
Workgroup members include:
Sherita Hill Golden, vice president and chief diversity officer, professor of medicine, JHM
Jeanne Hitchcock, interim vice president, government and community affairs, JHU/JHM
Lisa Maragakis, senior director of infection prevention, associate professor of medicine, JHM
Lisa Cooper, director, Urban Health Institute, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor, JHU
Panagis Galiatsatos, co-director, Medicine for the Greater Good and assistant professor of medicine, JHU
Nancy Molello, program director-operations and strategic initiatives, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity
Katie O'Conor, faculty, Departments of Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine and Emergency Medicine
Selwyn Ray, director, community affairs, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center
Nondie Hemphill, associate director, government and community affairs
Chrystal Green, associate director, East Baltimore Community Affairs
The Rev. William Johnson, community chaplain, Johns Hopkins Bayview
Kimberly Monson, community program coordinator, Johns Hopkins Bayview
James Biernatowski, administrative specialist
Moderator: Ricardo Sánchez-Silva, senior editor and reporter, El Tiempo Latino newspaper
Panelists:
People Reached
UrbanOne Radio Event
People Reached
AFRO Event: Viewership Statistics
People Reached
El Tiempo Latino: Viewer Statistics
Co-Lead, COVID-19 Community Task Force
JHM Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Health Equity
Co-Lead, COVID-19 Community Task Force
JHU Office of Local Government and Community Affairs
Partner, COVID-19 Community Education Task Force
JHU School of Medicine
Partner, COVID-19 Community Education Task Force
JHU School of Medicine
Partner, COVID-19 Community Education Task Force
Heartsmiles
Partner, COVID-19 Community Education Task Force
Johns Hopkins University
JHM Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Health Equity
JHM Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Health Equity
JHU Office of Local Government and Community Affairs
JHU Office of Local Government and Community Affairs
JHU Office of Local Government and Community Affairs
Urban Health Institute and Center for Health Equity
Urban Health Institute and Center for Health Equity
Brancati Center for the Advancement of Community Care
JHM Marketing and Communications
JH Center for Communication Programs
JH Center for Communication Programs
JH Center for Communication Programs
JH Center for Salud/Health and Opportunities for Latinos