Nonprofit Initiative Seeks To Raise Funds To Vaccinate 1 Million Hard-To-Reach Individuals

MONTCLAIR, N.J., July 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sostento, a nonprofit organization supporting frontline health workers in underserved communities across the United States, announced this week the creation of a new initiative called Project Finish Line. The goal of the Project is to vaccinate one million individuals whose access to traditional health care is limited by cultural, linguistic, social, and economic factors.

"For many of us, it may feel like we are beginning to return to pre-pandemic life, but that is not the case for so many individuals in this country," says Joe Agoada, founder and CEO of Sostento. "For reasons that are rooted in the social determinants of health and systemic health care barriers, folks such as the unhoused, uninsured, and undocumented have not received vaccines, not because they won't but because they can't."

Traditional safety net providers such as Federally Qualified Health Centers cannot support the needs of every individual who wants or needs a vaccine. Critically, those individuals are caught by another safety net provider known as Free and Charitable Clinics. But these clinics, which rely on donations and volunteers, suffer from underfunding and a decrease in volunteer support since the beginning of the pandemic.

To ensure their needs are met, Sostento has brought together 100 of these Free and Charitable Clinics located in low-vaccination rate areas across 15 different states into a network initiative called Project Finish Line that will mobilize resources and share best practices among the group.

"Project Finish Line has been an important element of our clinic, Health Connections, Inc.'s, strategy. They have assisted us with a COVID-19 Toolkit, technology assistance, connections to other local COVID-19 clinics, transportation solutions, and information sharing amongst other clinics around the country," said Ericka Sinclair MS, MPH, Founder and CEO of Health Connections, Inc. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. "Thanks to our partnership with Project Finish Line, we can continue to positively impact the Greater Milwaukee Community with COVID-19 testing, vaccinations, and traveling door-to-door to provide home and community-based healthcare services."

Additionally, Sostento has pledged to raise $10,000 per clinic to help fund crucial and lifesaving interventions to help end the pandemic.

"With just $10,000, a clinic could buy needed equipment to transport their vaccines to run a pop clinic or buy the refrigeration equipment needed to administer vaccines on site," says Agoada.

To date, Sostento has raised over $300,000 in support of their Free and Charitable Clinics in the Project Finish Line network and has yet to raise $700,000 to reach their final goal.

"Everyone wants to see the pandemic over, but until we invest in reaching these groups that need special attention to achieve vaccination, we risk a prolonged situation," says Agoada.

To learn more about Sostento, Project Finish Line, or how to become a corporate partner, visit www.sostento.org and covidfinishline.com.

About Sostento:
Sostento is a nonprofit consulting firm founded in 2019 to address some of the most pressing community health care crises in the country, including the opioid epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic. Sostento connects frontline health care providers to the resources needed to respond to the health care needs of the communities they serve.

About Project Finish Line:
Project Finish Line is a network of free and charitable clinics and community organizations working to vaccinate a million hesitant and hard-to-reach individuals. Their clinics are in the 15 states with the lowest vaccination rates. The goal is to foster connections, share resources and ideas, and problem-solve to help end the COVID-19 pandemic.

SOURCE Sostento