Innovative Housing Concepts Joins HUD-HHS Effort to Ensure Vaccine Accessibility to Residents in Englewood, Colorado

Innovative Housing Concepts (IHC), also known as Englewood Housing Authority, has joined a national effort by HUD and HHS to ensure accessibility of the COVID vaccine and vaccine information to the nation's most vulnerable, focusing on HUD-assisted households. This is one of many efforts the housing authority staff has undertaken in the last 15 months to help residents in one of the most difficult years on record. The staff at IHC provide an example in our community of staff going above and beyond their official duties to make sure people were ok during the pandemic.

"IHC is always looking for ways to continue to assist our residents as we look to transition to normal operations and get back to living without fear of getting sick. The majority of residents in the buildings we manage are mostly seniors, so many of them were facing challenges and hardships even before the pandemic," said Lindsey Gorzalski Hocking, incoming Executive Director of Innovative Housing Concepts. "We wanted to make sure we could help them through the hurdles they faced in getting the vaccine, making sure they had sufficient food and meeting other crucial needs."

"The safety and health of HUD-assisted families is top priority for HUD. We are grateful to IHC for everything they have done for their residents in the past year, and for joining our national effort to ensure that residents continue to have access to and information about the vaccine," said HUD Region 8 Deputy Regional Administrator Erik Amundson. "We want to make it as easy as possible for people to get the vaccine and want to provide accurate information to enable people to make the best decisions for themselves and their families."

Beginning in mid-March of 2020, the housing authority's Resident Services Coordinator Jessica Dianni pivoted her programming to adhere to COVID safety protocols and adapt to the difficulties the residents were facing due to the pandemic. This included individual case management to residents that needed resources related to COVID-19, securing partnerships with agencies providing additional food for those facing food insecurity, distributing a COVID-19 needs assessment to gauge the needs of each resident, and providing residents with personal protective equipment (PPE) such as cleaning supplies, masks, hand sanitizer, and gloves. Each resident also received an individualized resource sheet addressing their identified areas of need. One such need was equitable broadband internet, which IHC brought on site through a partnership with Starry, and helped sign up interested residents for high-speed, low-cost internet.

Another crucial need was the COVID vaccine. IHC partnered with Tri-County Health and the City of Englewood to organize a vaccine clinic for equitable vaccine access for residents. Residents were helped through the online vaccine sign-up and staff sent reminders of upcoming appointments as well as assisting them in making their first and second appointments. So far, close to 60% of the 210 residents have been vaccinated.

On opening up community spaces, Simon Center resident Linda Rieblin said, "I believe it is very important for senior citizens to socialize. One of the things that was a real problem here was the isolation. I think the majority here is ready."

However, it is a very difficult decision to open community spaces and resume indoor programming without all residents being vaccinated. There is still hesitancy to get the vaccine in the community, so IHC is working with the local HUD and HHS offices, as well as Tri-County Health and other partners, to provide information on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine and to make sure those who want it have easy access to it.

An educational event on the vaccine which will include HUD, HHS, and Tri-County Health, is coming up in the next few weeks to ensure that residents throughout the community have access to information on the vaccine and on the easiest ways to get the vaccine if they choose. In the meantime, Dianni has organized safe, outdoor activities for residents, including a pet wellness clinic and a community garden kick-off event.

The national COVID vaccine partnership between HUD & HHS was announced on May 5 (www.hhs.gov/about/news/2021/05/05/hhs-secretary-becerra-hud-secretary-fudge-announce-joint-effort-increase-access-covid-19-vaccinations.html), and it leverages the Health Center COVID-19 Vaccine Program (www.hrsa.gov/coronavirus/health-center-program), which currently provides a direct supply of vaccines to nearly 800 health centers across the country. As part of the Biden Administration's commitment to an equitable response to COVID-19, this joint initiative encourages community health centers to establish or further expand existing partnerships with local HUD grantees and program participants, including single-family and multifamily housing owners and managers, public housing authorities, Continuums of Care, and homeless providers.

HUD and HHS expect the effort to reach over 6,000 multifamily housing properties, 6,700 homeless shelters, and approximately 7,500 public-housing properties across the country to respond to and stop the spread of COVID-19. For more information on the joint effort, visit: archives.hud.gov/news/2021/Fact-sheet-HUD-HHS-vaccine-effort.pdf. Also, see President Biden's National Month of Action (www.whitehouse.gov/national-month-of-action/) which aims to mobilize an all-of-America sprint to get as many U.S. adults as possible at least one shot by July 4th.

To find a local health center, visit: https://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov/

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