Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 4/20/20- Shared Harvest Fund, a Los Angeles-based volunteer management platform and non-profit, is spearheading the initiative to bring tests to the community. “I am an ER doctor and disaster medicine specialist caring for patients on the frontline while addressing the surge capacity in the ED. It didn’t take me long to realize that our health system would be tested and overwhelmed and that we needed a more unified community response. So I and a compassionate team of providers started testing at pop-up locations in the community. We are focused specifically on safe and well-aerated public parking spaces to run the pop-ups through to ensure that no individual is left behind and everyone stays protected.”- CEO, Nana Afoh-Manin of the Shared Harvest Fund who is spearheading the initiative. “myCovidMD® is a web platform and our coordinated Pop-Up drive-thru center designed to get free coronavirus testing and telehealth services to marginalized communities in real-time, by real people.”
The locations this week are:
The Blackbird House, – Culver City
Faithful Central Bible Church – Inglewood
California African American Museum – South LA
Thurs – Fri 1-5 check updates at CovidMD.org
“We are seeking private donors along with the bevy of foundation grants we have applied for – we need to raise $920,000 which will pay for 10,000 tests ($92/test).”
Volunteer Community Health Partners (CHPs) will facilitate video triaging calls through the telehealth platform to provide Covid19 screening, wellness and mini-mental health assessments, match callers with a Crisis Buddy for factual real-time news updates, and offer compassion to those who are sick and shut- in. The program will also target services for the homeless population and for persons reliant on shelters. Drive Through testing at pop-up community locations will begin Friday, April 3, 2020 in Culver City, CA in partnership with Blackbird House, a shared workspace for productivity, wellness and community.
In exchange for volunteering, CHPs will be able to accumulate credits towards their student loans or deposit credits towards an Emergency Savings account. Shared Harvest founder, and Emergency Medicine Physician, Nana Afoh-Manin explains, “Through our student debt relief and emergency savings program, we are investing beyond the immediate crisis to help stimulate the economy and build a robust and culturally inclusive database of civilian skills-based volunteers that can be activated in case of future emergencies.”
About Shared Harvest Fund: Shared Harvest Fund was founded by three women doctors to spread prosperity through purpose and compassion. The founders understood that financial health directly impacts mental health and wellbeing. The student debt crisis and growing financial insecurities have had consequential effects on the growing rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide among young adults. Shared Harvest is doing something about that by building a network that promotes wellness, service and student debt relief. Learn more about Shared Harvest here.
You can find out more information here:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/mycovidmd-via-shared-harvest-foundation
In addition to individuals being able to donate on the website, covidmd.org
