COLUMBIA, S.C. — Residents in Hispanic communities across South Carolina are now equipped with personal protective equipment.
This is thanks to a 6-week campaign and partnership with DHEC and Latino Communications, combined with organizations all over the state.
In June, DHEC announced a spike in coronavirus cases in the upstate Hispanic community.
This campaign aims to help educate and equip this population, in which many serve as essential workers and live in multi-generational households.
"No one's been asking where produce is coming from and where supplies are magically coming from that are going into our grocery stores," said Tanya Rodriguez-Hodges, Executive Director of Latino Communications. "So it was important for us to go out into the meat factories, to the migrant workers, into the farmlands to make sure we reach those folks."
Latino Communications wasn't alone. Groups from all areas of the Palmetto State worked to fuel this campaign.
"People like Palmetto Luna, the South Carolina Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Charleston, aquí estamos and others," she said.
With the help of Prisma Health, they collected 5,000 masks and obtained funds to send to partnering organizations.
From there, they figured out where to go.
"We took the census track from 2010, we took that information plus boots on the ground of folks that knew their communities, knew their residents, knew the backwood areas of where people live," said Rodriguez-Hodges. "Then it was good, old fashioned door knocking."
From Beaufort, to Charleston, to Hilton Head, to Chesterfield County and all over the Midlands, Hispanics were greeted with packets of PPE. Each packet included 10 masks, 10 sets of gloves and 50 pieces of antibacterial wipes.
"What we were trying to do is not scare people, but educate them," said Rodriguez-Hodges. "Knocking on doors and having gifts for people, and those gifts were PPE."
While this campaign ended July 4, there's hope for another go-around to reach more members of a community often left behind.
Latino Communications got a knock on the door earlier this week. It was a 5,000 mask delivery from the Department of Health and Human Services to support their efforts.
For more information on Latino Communications, you can call 803-227-8984 or visit latinocdc.org. You can also look them up on Facebook and Instagram.
To read this story in Spanish, click here.