RAC Convocation

Dear colleagues,

We have very good news to share and review with you regarding substantial funding to improve the health and resilience of communities around the U.S.  Please join us for tomorrow’s Resilient American Communities (RAC) COVID-19 Convocation.

11:00 AM – 5:00 PM Eastern Time  Thursday, March 11 , 2021

Zoom onboarding and networking during these RAC Convenings will start at 10:30 AM ET.

March 11 RAC Meeting Zoom Access

Topic: Resilient American Communities (RAC) Convocation

Time: Feb 25, 2021 11:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Topic: RAC Convening

Time: Mar 11, 2021 11:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89651125104

Meeting ID: 896 5112 5104

One tap mobile

+19292056099,,89651125104# US (New York)

+13017158592,,89651125104# US (Washington DC)

Dial by your location

+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)

+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)

+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)

+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)

+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)

Meeting ID: 896 5112 5104

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdzQvjJfSX

Tomorrow’s meeting will focus on the passage of the Biden Administration’s almost $1.9 Trillion pandemic relief fund.  In addition, we will share information about $250 million dollars that will be allocated to municipalities to address COVID-19 safety and vaccination issues with a strong emphasis on health and vaccination equity.  In addition, the $25 million Office of Minority Health funds allocated earlier through Morehouse are getting out into communities.  Community organizations are now receiving  small grants in an expedited fashion.  Other significant philanthropic funds are beginning to reach communities across the nation.

This week’s RAC Convocation will include a couple of rapid guest talks on the pandemic mental health crisis and the control of COVID through improvements to the build environment.  Illya Azaroff, a fellow of the America Institute of Architecture, will provide a quick introduction to his work in New York State and New York City on pandemic and syndemic management and control of extended COVID endemic in collaborative design processes with community members.  Deryk Van Brunt, CEO of CredibleMind, will address the extent of the pandemic mental health crisis and some new tools in addressing this element of the COVID crisis.

For those ready to engage in more indepth RAC work, please inquire about RAC site developments, workgroups and RAC rapid response teams at:

http://resilientamericancommunities.org

A new calendar of RAC events and training is now available at the above website.

Resilient American Communities (RAC) COVID-19 Unity of Effort Convening

March 11, 2021

Agenda

(All Times Below are in U.S. Eastern Standard Time)

10:30 AM  – 11:00 AM                 Zoom Access and Networking 

11:00 AM – 12:30 PM                   Welcome & Initial Discourse

The Biden Harris Administration’s U.S. National Strategy for the COVID-10 Response and Pandemic Preparedness is now being engaged aggressively.  Vaccination programs are rolling out across the country with over 20% of Americans receiving the first of two shots and more than 10% now fully innoculated.  That said, logistics problems continue with significant challenges within communities of color and rural communities around the nation.

After initial policy discussions, we will be asking the following questions:

How will the Biden Administrations $1.9 billion relief package affect your community’s pandemic response, resilience, recovery, and regeneration?

How will the HHS Office of Minority Health’s $250 million “Advancing Health Literacy to Enhance Equitable Community Responses to COVID-19” initiative help your municipalities and the community-based organizations reach ethnic minorities in rural and other vulnerable populations?

What do these and other federal and philanthropic grants and contracts mean in terms of RAC’s short-term objectives regarding vaccination, health, and social equity, as well as in terms of the longer term build-up of resilient and regenerative communities of opportunity with social equity that can thrive throughout the challenges of the 21st century?

How are the RAC workgroup efforts progressing?

 

12:30 PM – 1:00 PM Break and Networking 

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM Afternoon Discourse

We will lay some foundations in this early afternoon (Eastern time) session for the processes essential to resilient recovery within communities.  The early afternoon sessions will provide updates on how RAC communities are networking and converging to improve state-wide COVID response and recovery efforts, as well as how regional, state, and other RAC Centers of Excellence are advancing trends of COVID-19 hot zones to cooling zones, cooling zones to stable cool zones, and cool zones to cold zones able to focus on regenerating their economies and social infrastructures. Progress is being made, but some populations still face significant risks, especially from syndemic impacts (e.g., food security, housing, employment, health and social services).

How are RAC sites and other effective COVID-19 Interventions expanding across the regions of the United States?

How are the RAC efforts progressing in specific regions and states?

What is being done to establish RAC Centers of Excellence to address the the greatest COVID-19 challenges?

How do we collect and disseminate examples of RAC successes and learning (e.g., website, dashboards, Playbook, toolsets, and trainings)?

What is the status of RAC vaccination equity programs and events?

What challenges are these vaccination equity programs facing with the changing eligibility guidelines?

3:00 PM – 3:30 PM Break and Networking

3:30 PM – 4:30 PM Panel Reflections 

When will the Biden Administration really make a difference on the ground in terms of significant improvements to vaccination and broader health equity?

How do you see Resilient American Communities helping to ensure these and other resources are making a difference especially in the most impacted and disenfranchised populations?

4:15 PM – 5:00 PM Closing Remarks

What should come next in our efforts to improve vaccination, health, and social equity?

How will indoor and outdoor environment design and infrastructure help our most vulnerable communities reach significant advancements in their resilience and regeneration?

 5:00 PM Conclusion of Meeting

Post-Meeting Comment Period—Discussion for those who care to participate

RAC Workgroups focus on the national, regional, state, and bioregional rollout of RAC research, plans, policies, procedures, and standards of practice, including but not limited to the follow areas:

• Communities, Regions, States, Territorial, Tribal Networking (CRSTTN) Initiatives
• Strategic Planning to Operations
• Vaccination Program
• RAC Systems Rapid Replication and Scaling
• Guidance and Training for New RAC Site Development
• Content Management
• RAC Technical Services
• Data Management
• MPHISE Analytics
• Exposure Notification
• Health System Resilience
• Center of Excellence Development
• RAC Graph and Social Network Analysis; Supernode, Node & Network Linkages
• Serious Games (Simulated Solutions Exercises, Massive Multi-player Games)
• COVID-19 Environmental Testing
• FAC Team Formation and Deployment
• Early Identification and Response in Probable Outbreak Areas and Hot Zones
• Interventions to Create SARS-CoV-2 Cooling and Cold Zones
• Certifying Cooling, Cool, and Cold Zones for Opening up Economic and Social Activities
• FAC Teams for Rapid Response in Urgent Circumstances
• RAC COVID-19 Community Policies
• COVID-19 Mental Health  / Psychosocial Environment / Well-being
• Vital Conditions Mapping
• Syndemic Mission Critical Functions Assessment/Gap Resolution
• Syndemic Cascading Effects
• International Health Security
• Rural and Frontier Communities
• SDOH in Vulnerable Communities
• National Framework for SDOH Common Core & Supplemental Datasets
• Interagency
• Management and Governance

RAC workgroups are now meeting regularly to replicate and scale RAC sites and activities across the U.S.  Please let us know if you have an interest in the activities of a specific RAC workgroup.  Workgroup updates will be provided within the March 11 convening, in case you have an interest in joining RAC workgroup efforts.

Focus Agility Convergence (FAC) Teams will focus on rapid response and carrying out improvements to mission critical functions and other RAC objectives, including for example:

• RAC Vaccine Equity Assessment
• RAC Center of Excellence Development
• RAC Site Development
• RAC Site COVID-19 Risk Communication Associated with COVID Super-transmission
• RAC Seasonal and Special Event Risk Communication
• RAC Serious Games (virtual community exercises)
• Emergency RAC Site Development
• COVID Hot Spot Management
• Management of RAC Communities in Extreme Vulnerability or Collapse
• Management of RAC Communities Facing Extreme Events Threatening Their Resilience

In addition to joining us from 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM Eastern Time for the March 11 RAC convening, please hold the following dates and times for upcoming Resilient American Communities (RAC) COVID-19 Initiative Convocations:

11:00 AM – 5:00 PM Eastern Time  Thursday, March 25, 2021

We look forward to seeing you tomorrow, March 11, 2021.

For those of you, just learning about the RAC, see an introductory overview attached. Also please join us at:

http://ResilientAmericanCommunities.org/

Mike

Michael D. McDonald, Dr.P.H.

Coordinator

Resilient American Communities RAC) Initiative

Executive Director

Health Initiatives Foundation, Inc.

[email protected]

http://haiti.resiliencesystem.org