Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates joined VIP’s Leaders Assembly on July 22, working with VIP Leaders to join forces for a public strategy to accelerate COVID-19 Testing and Contact Tracing.
VIP Leaders taught the crucial strategy needed to suppress the coronavirus and engender the trust required to open the economy and schools. With emphasis on Testing, Tracing and Supported Isolation (TTSI), the strategy is based on conversations with Danielle Allen, lead author of the Harvard report, Roadmap to Pandemic Resilience (link to the study). VIP Congregations have stepped up in support of this strategy, offering their facilities as trusted sites for testing centers and the commitment to recruit individuals from the community to be trained as contact tracers.
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The urgency of this moment was clearly demonstrated with stories: from frontline workers about how COVID-19 has overtaken all aspects of healthcare to a mother’s concern for loved ones in prison, where only minimal protections have been offered as the virus spreads throughout the facility. Arizona Career Pathways (ACP) graduates talked about the significant change in their lives and careers resulting from their training. A powerful testimony as VIP proposes an ACP workforce strategy in response to the pandemic, potentially aiding essential workers and those who lost their jobs, allowing them to skill up and enter jobs that pay living wages and offer a career path in the aftermath of the pandemic. |
Rev. Hunter Ruffin; Supervisor Bill Gates; Rev. Susana Santibanez; Rev. Martir Vasquez. |
Importantly, Supervisor Gates recognized VIP's leadership in calling for a coordinated and accelerated government response to this public health crisis. Next steps are to work with Supervisor Gates and the Maricopa County Department of Public Health to advance the congregation-based testing strategy and training for contact tracers. Gates is also committed to advancing the plan to create a long term workforce strategy with expansion of Arizona Career Pathways. VIP Leaders will continue to push for these two critical steps.
