A Look Back and a Look Forward
By Lisa Tealer, Executive Director, BACHAC
It’s been over 7 months since I wrote an open letter right after the unspeakable event of witnessing an unarmed Black man strangled for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in plain sight. George Floyd’s cries out to his mother before dying still haunt me. It appeared to me as a modern day lynching right before our eyes. I was feeling raw and worn. Fast forward to now, and again I asked myself, “What we do know for sure, and now that we know, what are we going to do about it?”
As we look back, what do we know for sure?
Despite racial discourse, civil unrest, political chaos, and an anxiety-producing health and economic pandemic, BACHAC accomplished quite a bit in 2020 (not a complete list). Together, we:
o Fulfilled our commitment to the Census project and reached our goal of a 75% response rate for North Central San Mateo in a diverse and hard to reach community
o Participated in and completed our Voter Education and Engagement Efforts
o Completed our commitment to the UCSF TRACK COVID Surveillance Study to help recruitment participants in high-risk areas in San Mateo County
o Reimagined and executed our signature event, Soul Stroll for Health, as a virtual event with attendees from 18 states and Australia.
o Partnered with a local church, St. James AME Zion Church, to launch free community COVID-19 testing, and close to 500 people have been tested (as of today)
o Acquired funding for our Community Mammogram Program after losing our funding source
o Educated elected officials about the negative health consequences of Vaping/Flavored Tobacco Products with three cities implementing ordinances to ban the sale of these products (East Palo Alto, Menlo Park and San Mateo)
o Launched and produced 12 Wellness Where You Are Sessions to continue to educate our community utilizing a virtual platform
o Helped 55 uninsured women receive free mammograms, despite the shutdown
o Launched a monthly blog during the holidays
o Participated as panelists for numerous programs on police reform, the 2020 Census, Allyship, COVID-19 and other topics related to health and racial disparities
Working together, our collective community demonstrated resilience despite the many challenges we faced in 2020.
Looking Forward: With what we know now, what are we going to do about it?
BACHAC is looking forward to 2021 (despite a rocky start) with hope, gratitude and excitement to:
o Continue providing free COVID-19 testing in our community
o Play a major role in educating the community about the COVID-19 vaccine and support services
o Address the mental health implications of the pandemic, by providing educational offerings, tools and resources
o Assist people seeking resources should they become COVID-19 positive
o Plan and host our first ever virtual Off To A Good Start program in February
o Continue our flavored tobacco and vaping education efforts
o Enhance and expand our Community Mammogram Program
o Organize our 2nd virtual Soul Stroll for Health and reach even more people around the U.S. and the world
o Continue to enhance our online presence
o Continue to push and influence tangible outcomes and hold ourselves and others accountable
o Continue to embed diversity, inclusion and equity in all that we do.
As always, BACHAC invites individuals and organizations to pose the questions above to themselves: think about what can you learn from the past and what you can do to move forward. BACHAC anticipates the new year with a sigh of relief, a new government administration, a vaccine on the horizon for the virus and the hope of what’s possible.
Let’s be safe, let’s be kind while we do it.
In peace, health and solidarity,
Lisa