City awards Certificates of Merit to COVID-19 Ambassadors

Special to the Journal

On July 12th, the City of Revere COVID-19 Ambassadors and Women Encouraging Empowerment, Inc. COVID-19 Ambassadors received Certificates of Merit from the Revere City Council and Mayor Brian Arrigo. The Certificates of Merit are “in acknowledgement of extraordinary, distinguished, and meritorious actions in the role as the Covid-19 Vaccine Ambassador Team Leader for the City of Revere, Massachusetts. Your work as the Covid-19 Vaccine Ambassador Team Leader directly and meaningfully impacted the City of Revere’s efforts to assist the City’s vulnerable population by providing multilingual and on-the-ground outreach, which included demonstrating good public health behavior, explaining vaccine importance, social distancing rules and requirements, and general Covid-19 information. In witness whereof this Certificate of Merit is gratefully bestowed by the Mayor and City Council of the City of Revere, Massachusetts, on behalf of its residents, this twelfth day of July in the year of Our Lord, two thousand and twenty-one and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.”

The City of Revere Covid-19 Ambassador’s work with residents to slow the spread of the virus in Revere. Ambassadors provide multilingual information, general assistance and referrals to residents in areas of health, housing, financial relief, nutrition assistance, and other related resources. They conduct wellness checks of residents in need and provide linkages and referrals to social services including mental health. The City’s COVID-19 Ambassador team is central to communication between the City’s health and human services departments, Revere 311, and community organizations and service providers. The City Ambassadors that received Certificates of Merit include: Asmaa Abou-Fouda, Britney Sao, Camila Castro Pinto, Chaimaa Hossaini, Ethan Francois, Gladis Alvarez Cordon, Hawa Barry, Jennifer Aguilar, Joela Goga, Joselin Flores, Judy Tran, Keith Fisher, Laith Almatwari, Leidy Duque, Liana Jorge Matute, Linh Nguyen, Lucas Hurtado, Madelyn Pineda Alvarez, Minnah Sheikh, Nada Abou Hadiba, Natividad Hernandez, Rachid Doukali, Rhiannon Alter, Sarena Sao, Sorhavattiy Tieng, Tabitha Henriquez, Taous Boughari, Vanny Huot, and Xavier Alvarez. For more information about the City’s Ambassador Program visit www.revere.org/ambassadors

The Women Encouraging Empowerment, Inc. (WEE) Covid-19 Ambassadors are one of the many community-based organizations from around the state from the 20 cities and towns hardest hit by Covid-19 who have been contracted as part of Governor Baker’s Covid-19 Vaccine Equity Initiative. The Baker Administration’s Vaccine Equity Initiative focuses on 20 cities and towns with the greatest COVID-19 case burden, which includes Revere, taking into account social determinants of health and the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC). The WEE Covid-19 Ambassadors have been conducting deep outreach in Revere to increase the rate of vaccinations of residents through door knocking, phone banking, tabling, and staffing the FEMA run clinics in Revere held on Wednesday’s from 3-7pm and Sunday’s from 9-4pm at the Rumney Marsh Academy, 140 American Legion Highway. Olga Tacure, Executive Director of WEE stated that “Working with this team as ambassadors to reduce vaccine hesitancy has been an amazing experience and a great feeling of caring for others in our community. We are very proud of such an amazing team who are working very hard and are contributing in reaching our city’s vaccination goal”. The WEE Ambassadors that received Certificates of Merit include: Khalil Lechheb, Eliza Santos, EL Mostafa Hajim, Gladys M Olivares, Ihssan Mourouane, Claudia Cen, Reina E.Hernandez Martinez, Blanca Bedoya, Kevin Calle, Ehab Hazimeh, Soumya Baami, Aleli Calle, Elsa V. Serna Moncada, Noor Halibut, Angel – Hernadez, and Team Leader Silvia Argueta.

WEE is based in Revere and its mission is to educate, advocate, protect and advance the rights of immigrants, refugees and low-income women and their families through organizing leadership development and service delivery. For more information about WEE please visit www.weerevere.org