These Columbus nonprofits are helping ‘folks living on the margins of life’ get COVID vaccines

In a whirlwind affair lasting less than an hour, 100 people rolled up their sleeves and received the COVID-19 vaccine at Safehouse Ministries in Columbus.

The April 8 event was the organization’s first pop-up vaccine clinic, orchestrated by chaplain and director of Safehouse Neil Richardson, to vaccinate their support staff and clients experiencing homelessness.

It’s one of many services they’ve provided before and throughout the pandemic with the ultimate goal of helping clients access permanent housing.

“We spent some time talking about what the shot is and getting rid of some of the lies,” Richardson said. Some of that included clarifying the vaccine does not spread COVID-19, the flu or microchips.

“You know one of the biggest words we heard?” said Richardson. “Tuskegee.”

Starting in the 1930s and lasting for decades, the medical study in Alabama conducted by the Centers for Disease Control promised treatment for syphilis to hundreds of Black men but the experiments left many sick or dead.

Richardson said acknowledging racism in healthcare was an especially important conversation with clients of color, reflecting a national trend in vaccine hesitancy and increased outreach.

The clinic was a collaboration between the Georgia Department of Public Health, Home for Good, United Way and Safehouse Ministries.

GDPH arrived with 100 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which has since been paused in Georgia and other states as the Centers for Disease Control and Food and Drug Administration review six reported cases of an extremely rare blood clot.

Joanne Jones Crowley has been volunteering at Safehouse for five years but the vaccination event was the first time she’s been back to the community center since the pandemic began.

She checked temperatures at the front door, gave out hand sanitizer and offered lunch downstairs before GDPH workers arrived at noon.

“I’m so used to being down here cooking,” Crowley said, “and I know everyone.”

She’s glad to be vaccinated and back volunteering, she said.

Richardson said Safehouse hasn’t been this busy since the pandemic started. Over 100 people were packed into the building at 2101 Hamilton Rd. — clients and support staff receiving the vaccine, healthcare workers distributing and others just wanting to use the TV room while it was empty.

“Everybody’s getting (the vaccine) and I thought I should too,” said Bull, 60, a man experiencing homelessness for over 10 years. He’s been coming to Safehouse for five years now to “drink coffee and eat a meal,” he said.

It took Bull about 25 minutes to shuffle through the line crisscrossing the sanctuary and receive his shot. The 15-minute observation window passed while people wait in the pews.

“This is housing,” said Pat Frey, Vice President of Home for Good. She’d spent the event hustling around the community center, routing clients to GDPH nurses and encouraging six feet apart. “Getting the vaccine is access to housing.”

Frey said housing applications can now ask applicants if they’ve received the vaccine, another potential barrier for people experiencing homelessness.

“We serve folks living on the margins of life. They understand there are precautions to protect them,” said Richardson. “This is one of them.”

This story was originally published April 14, 2021 at 3:49 PM.