Dr. Michelle Smith, director of the Arkansas Department of Health’s Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities, joined Gov. Asa Hutchinson today at his daily COVID-19 press conference to announce the availability of COVID-19 grants from the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Foundation to help minority communities.
“We are pleased to announce that as of this morning, [the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Foundation] launched their COVID-19 Relief Initiative, and under this project mini-grants of up to $1,000 will be awarded to organizations addressing hardships due to COVID-19,” Smith said.
The Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Foundation has partnered with the Arkansas Department of Health to launch the initiative in which the Foundation committed $25,000. A GoFundMe was set up in effort to raise an additional $25,000 in private funds during the month of May to provide additional mini-grants to organizations through a second round of awards.
According to the GoFundMe page set up by the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, the grants will be awarded to Arkansas-based organizations serving minority communities and working to address COVID-19 issues related to food and housing insecurity; physical and mental health care, economic hardship; and educational needs.
Applications for the COVID-19 relief grants funded by the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Foundation can be submitted here.
Earlier this week, Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. discussed his concerns over the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the underserved communities.
“We are now seeing the healthcare disparities as it relates to black men and women, not only in Little Rock, but in the state of Arkansas. And as well as our brown brothers and sisters, a part of the Latinx community, are not having as much testing as possible due to language barriers and the like,” Scott said.
He noted that even though the black community represents approximately 18 percent of the population of Arkansas, 26 percent of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state are affected black men and women. Furthermore, 36 percent of the confirmed deaths are black men and women.
Dr. Smith noted that the Arkansas Department of Health is collaborating with community partners to address the health issues of minorities. In addition to working with the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Foundation, the Arkansas Department of Health is also partnering with the Arkansas Medical, Dental, and Pharmaceutical Association, Arkansas Minority Health Commission, the Division for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at UAMS, the Marshallese Coalition, Arkansas United and the Hispanic Women’s Organization of Arkansas.
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