To connect 5000 or more vulnerable Orange and East Orange residents with the COVID-19 vaccine, The HUUB, Inc., is leading this collaborative effort to coordinate outreach and pop-up vaccination clinics throughout both communities. Focusing on local youth as well as adults, the HUUB, its network of community partners and the Healthy Orange coalition, are leveraging community trust and using artistic and creative expression to build a sense of connection to encourage conversations about the vaccine. In addition, the HUUB is developing and deploying an intergenerational group of vaccine ambassadors and a street outreach team to share information with residents in at least three languages and administer the vaccine to those ready to take it. The HUUB is also partnering with the Essex County mobile vaccination unit and local pharmacies and restaurants to coordinate vaccination events in the community.  Through the HUUB’s commitment to collaboration and partnership, this program could create a model for providing equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.

The HUUB and its partners are among the nonprofits and service providers that have come together as the Moving New Jersey Forward Learning Collaborative to share accomplishments and lessons learned from this work with each other, with New Jersey Health Initiatives and the state, to benefit every community. Ensuring more equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccine originally connected these thought leaders as the New Jersey Vaccination Learning Network for over a year. In March 2022, the network renamed itself the Moving NJ Forward Learning Collaborative to better represent the partners’ systems-level thinking and commitment to applying the lessons from the past two years to unlock the doors to opportunity that marginalized communities face. Learn more about the collaborative’s expanded focus.

In July 2022, The HUUB’s project team reflected on more than six months of this collaborative work across Orange and East Orange. Scroll down to check out their latest blog post.

Browse reflections on similar efforts from across New Jersey in the Summer 2022 collection of community stories by the Moving NJ Forward Learning Collaborative.