COLUMBIA, S.C. — Some churches are continuing to look to make an impact in the vaccination effort in the Palmetto State.
Reid Chapel AME Church in Columbia has been looking for ways to help the community since the coronavirus pandemic started.
Reverend Carey Grady says in the Spring of 2020, their church had volunteers who started making phone calls to seniors to find out what their needs were.
“It was quite an extensive list. Lots of persons were called in the community,” said Reverend Grady. “Secondly, in November of 2020, we did a five-day a week testing site right here in our parking lot.”
In the month of December, they tested more than 200 people. Reverend Grady hopes testing for the coronavirus will continue as there is still the unknown of the potential impacts of variants of the virus.
The church also held vaccination information events to help get important details out to the community and to help answer any questions.
While the church was looking for ways to get the vaccine there, Reid Chapel AME Church held a vaccination registration event a few months ago. There was a tremendous turnout with more than 500 people there.
Last week, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control announced they were accepting applications for a grant program to help with the hyperlocal effort to get people vaccinated in the state. The grant would help provide approved organizations information they can distribute out to the community for vaccine education and even help provide rides to vaccination sites.
Reverend Grady says they are planning on applying to be a part of the program.
"I just think it's wonderful when particularly the state department or the health department, any organization wants to partner with the local community with organizations and particularly with churches, the faith community, that are very much involved in the hearts and lives of people every single day,” explained Reverend Grady.
Reverend Grady says they're hoping to be approved for the program to continue to make a difference in the community.
"Just continue to possibly meet the needs of people even more,” said Reverend Grady. “At this stage, not only is it about the vaccine, but it's about continued education and continuing to get persons to understand that we still need to take precautions. We still need to wear a mask and practicing social distancing, so on and so forth because we really don't know what this thing is going to end up like.”