Sarah Rafton, MSW
Executive Director, WCAAP
I hope you are all doing as well as possible during what has been a difficult time in our world and our country. I know we all feel moments of deep discouragement as preventable infection is greater now than ever.
WCAAP’s strength is our members. I am grateful for our community and want to reinforce some of the high points demonstrating how we are collectively working to improve community health in this challenging context, including:
- WCAAP vaccine leaders John Dunn and Doug Opel and our members Yolanda Evans, Maria Huang, Kristi Rice and Jasmin Zavala teaming up to support providers in your ongoing efforts to increase uptake with the COVID-19 Vaccine via weekly webinars August 11 – September 1. You can view and share recordings of these webinars here. We will repeat the series as soon as a vaccine is approved for kids under age 12.
- Significant media coverage we have received on back to school and vaccines, thanks to the hard work of WCAAP communications manager, Jennifer Donahue, vaccine committee chair John Dunn, WCAAP member Luis Garcia Tillan, and board members Mike Barsotti, Frank Bell, Cora Breuner, Beth Ebel, and Elizabeth Meade. Please check out this recent media coverage here.
- In August we provided a WCAAP panel with Frank Bell, Jasmin Zavala, and psychologist Lisa Barrois, speaking to parents statewide about back to school safety and well-being on a Washington State PTA webinar. You can check out a recording of the webinar here with Access Passcode: Zsu*h=18 .
Thank you all for what you are doing each and every day.
I know I speak for all WCAAP staff when I share our deep appreciation and admiration for you and our desire to support you in any way we possibly can. Please let us know what we can do to help you, kids and families. I hope you manage to find some time for yourselves this month and moments or even hours of peace and joy.