Mennonite Friendship Communities Receives Grant to Increase COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake and Education

Dawn Veh, Executive Director is pleased to announce Mennonite Friendship Communities has been selected to receive a $10,000 grant through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Vaccine Equity and Access Program (VEAP) to increase COVID-19 and influenza vaccine confidence and access among older adults.
“We are so pleased to be awarded this grant that has a limited number of beneficiaries in the country. It has been a long 20-months of the COVID pandemic and we appreciate their help in our vaccine education efforts.”
The $10,000 grant was offered as part of a national partnership between LeadingAge, a national association of nonprofit aging services providers, and CDC partner Community Catalyst to strengthen vaccine education through community outreach and community-provider coalitions.
Mennonite Friendship Communities, a LeadingAge member, will use the grant to reward staff for their vaccination efforts and to help educate the community on the value of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.”
“Flu vaccines have long been a critical tool for long-term care providers—and the COVID
vaccine has been the most important development of the pandemic,” Katie Smith Sloan,
president and CEO, LeadingAge. “LeadingAge is committed to increasing vaccination rates
using every available resource, which is why we are pleased to partner with Community
Catalyst on the Vaccine Access and Equity Program. Our mission-driven members are working hard to ensure that everyone who needs a vaccine can get one—particularly people in communities of color, who have been disproportionately impacted throughout the pandemic. This initiative brings us one step closer to achieving this goal.”
Mennonite Friendship Communities is one of 42 LeadingAge members that have received a
grant via an application process earlier this year. Clinics will be held throughout the first quarter of 2022. Mennonite Friendship Communities is a continuing care retirement community in South Hutchinson providing independent living, income eligible housing, assisted living, skilled nursing and short-term rehab services. The community has been serving residents since 1973.
About LeadingAge:
We represent more than 5,000 nonprofit aging services providers and other mission-minded organizations that touch millions of lives every day. Alongside our members and 38 state partners, we use applied research, advocacy, education, and community-building to make America a better place to grow old. Our membership, which now includes the providers of the Visiting Nurse Associations of America, encompasses the continuum of services for people as they age, including those with disabilities. We bring together the most inventive minds in the field to lead and innovate solutions that support older adults wherever they call home. For more information visit leadingage.org.