Above: Danville NAACP President Ed Butler
THE FOLLOWING IS AN NAACP RELEASE
Danville, IL, May 4, 2022 –Danville’s NAACP has earned State-wide recognition for its efforts to boost vaccinations in Vermilion County. The Illinois Public Health Association will honor the NAACP for its Health Navigator Program during the Second Annual Community Health Worker Summit on May 19 in Springfield.
The Public Health Association’s recognition committee voted unanimously to confer the “Community Health Worker Employer” award to the Danville NAACP for “dedication and hard work throughout the difficult times we have been experiencing.”
For more than two years, Danville’s Health Navigator Program manager Mary Ann McCullough has led a staff of six navigators from door-to-door throughout the City of Danville and Vermilion County. As NAACP President Edward J. Butler says, “Mary Ann and her navigators aren’t resting in their mission to spread the good news that there are vaccines available to you that can save your life and the lives of your loved ones against this scourge called Covid-19.”
The Danville Health Navigators have been in action since the start of the pandemic in March of 2020 and have made connections with more than 4,000 local residents throughout the first six months of the program. This year, between January and April, the navigators have met with 2,000 individuals and have relied on State and County funding to provide free healthcare services like vaccinations and Covid testing as well as social services like food, access to shelter, and transportation.
In the recognition letter sent to the NAACP, the Public Health Association praised the Danville Health Navigators for “combating Covid-19 in communities some people would not dare to walk into, to help the people that not many would during a time such as this. This team has done outreach and vaccination clinics and has collaborated with County boards and school boards to raise the public’s awareness about how to survive through a pandemic. They richly deserve to be recognized for their efforts.”
For more information about the Health Navigator Program, call 224-661-0931.
Danville’s Branch 3009 of the NAACP is located on 703 N. Kimball Street in Danville, IL 61832, and is committed to equity and social justice. The NAACP welcomes anyone who shares this mission. To become a member, call President Butler at 217-920-2825.
