Some of the Work We've Done
The Focus of Our Efforts
Vaccine Clinics
Fighting infectious diseases at the Ground Level
The best way to reduce the spread of any virus is prevention. That is why we work relentlessly on providing pop up vaccine clinics in areas where people do not have easy access to the vaccines. We conduct weekly clinics at multiple different locations ranging from schools to neighborhood parking lots in an effort to provide vaccination to as many people as possible!
Since we started in 2020 we have held over 500 flu clinics giving out over 5,000 free flu vaccines to people in need. The Influenza virus has a transmission rate of 1.8, meaning for every person that contracts the flu virus on average spreads it to an additional 1.8 people. This is significant because that means we have potentially prevented over 15,000 people from contracting the flu in a time where community health is an upmost priority.
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Community Progress
Tackling the Issue
Throughout the year we have worked with multiple different organizations including the County Health Department and the Board of Education to help make our mission a success. We have been able to work with these organizations to help improve sanitation efforts in our school system by allowing hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes in the classrooms (previously only allowed to be used by the janitorial staff) along with providing education on the spread of germs in school and proper handwashing techniques. Through our formal partnership with FCPS we have been able to orchestrate and organize vaccine clinics at the schools, providing free vaccines, sanitation products, and educational information for the students and their families!
Working with the Health Department we have been able to have policies and procedures introduced to increase communication between the health department and private practices to help reduce vaccine shortages across the county. These procedures introduced by the health department will allow the health department to provide vaccines to private practices when their supply becomes depleted reducing the possibility of people not being able to get their vaccine due to shortages.
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We have also worked with local government officials to put together a bill (Lochlin's Law) to take the floor in Annapolis in January. Lochlin's Law will require all Urgent Care Facilities along with Hospitals in the State of Maryland to have SEPSIS protocols and provide SEPSIS training for their staff to increase early intervention efforts against SEPSIS. The Bill has great support and is set to be voted on in January by the State Officials.
Supporting those in Need
Doing What’s Needed
Throughout the past 3 years we have worked with the Rescue Mission and the Faith House to provide bags of men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing, hot meals from local restaurants, sanitation products, free vaccinations, and masks to our patrons that have fallen on hard times. This continuous effort happens weekly and is another way for us to help fight infectious diseases at the ground level and reduce community wide transmission.
We're so proud of our CEO and Co-Founder Brooke DeSantis to have been awarded the Paul Harris Fellow Award, S.H.E.R.O Award, and the Frederick DoGooder Award for the great work she is doing to help our community!
If you're interested in joining our cause please reach out to us today and get involved!