A few months ago, we launched our largest response in the United States to date to help in the fight against COVID-19. 

In that time, our teams have borne witness to the devastating toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on people in need. But we witnessed another crisis too: the stark racial disparities in US health care.

COVID-19 has hit communities of color especially hard. Black and Latino communities are three times as likely to get COVID-19 as white people and twice as likely to die from it, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

We provide medical aid where it's needed most. In the US, there are significant health inequities and a high number of people who suffer from multiple health issues that put them at higher risk of death from COVID-19. There is a clear need for additional support for the COVID-19 response, especially among vulnerable communities with limited access to health care, shelter, or basic sanitation. Since our initial response in New York City, we’ve expanded our US COVID-19 response to Florida, Puerto Rico, Michigan, and Navajo Nation and Pueblo communities in New Mexico and Arizona.

In one recent project, we partnered with the Brownsville Multi-Service Family Health Center to run a COVID-19 testing facility in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn where black and Latino people make up about 95 percent of the population. 

“We all know that no one really starts with an equal playing field. And so, COVID, I think, just exposed, in a raw way, the disparities that continue to exist in terms of access to health, the quality of health, and systemic racism in the health care delivery system,” says Harvey Lawrence, president and CEO at the Brownsville health center. 

Watch this video to learn more about our partnership and community-based approach to fighting COVID-19 in Brownsville.

There’s so much more to be done, and we’re grateful that you’re a part of this movement.