By Natalia López-Thismón
When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, Global Communities (then operating as PCI) moved quickly to collaborate with the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to the community through contact tracing. Since then, our programming has shifted into education and vaccine outreach as new needs and questions arise.
Through this work, Global Communities has been connecting residents to valuable resources such as free testing sites or walk-up vaccination events where no appointment is needed. Community members have also been directed to resources they might not have been aware of such as the Child Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax credit, food pantries and diaper distribution.
Arwa Alkhawaja, who has been part of our COVID Response team in San Diego since the beginning, talks about the challenges of this ever-evolving public health issue and the vital role of community-centered outreach.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
This content is part of Future Forward, a thought leadership and storytelling series on how Global Communities is driving change to save lives, advance equity and secure strong futures. To learn more, visit globalcommunities.org/futureforward.