WILS Awarded Vaccination Promotion Funding For Older Adults

WILS is pleased to announce that it has received funding from the USAging-led Aging and Disability Vaccination Collaborative to conduct activities that will connect older adults and people with disabilities to COVID-19 and flu vaccines.

Led by USAging and funded by the U.S. Administration for Community Living, the Aging and Disability Vaccination Collaborative grants are helping communities stay healthy by targeting older adults and people with disabilities, particularly those from historically marginalized and underserved communities in which vaccination rates are low.

As part of its grant project, WILS will conduct community outreach and collaborate with community partners to conduct vaccination clinics and educational information events in Benton, Henry, Johnson, Lafayette, Pettis, and Saline counties.

“This grant funding will give us the opportunity to expand our reach into communities and to promote the importance of vaccines,” said Kathy Wyatt, Senior Executive Assistant. “We are proud to be a grantee of the USAging ADVC grant and look forward to partnering with community organizations, public health departments, health centers, pharmacies, and other medical entities to encourage individuals to receive their vaccinations. Together, we can help reduce illness and hospitalizations in people with disabilities and older adults."

“Our 100 Aging and Disability Vaccination Collaborative grantees have hit the ground running,” said Sandy Markwood, CEO of USAging, which leads the Collaborative. “The funding we have received from the U.S. Administration for Community Living will enable us to make significant strides to increase the number of older adults and people with disabilities who are vaccinated. With these resources, USAging anticipates funding more than 200 communities and vaccinating more than two million older adults and people with disabilities. These vaccination uptake efforts are lifesaving for the older adults and people with disabilities who research has shown are the most vulnerable to death and severe illness from COVID-19 and the flu.”

Vaccine outreach events and clinics will be posted on WILS Facebook page and at https://w-ils.org/.

WILS and other Aging and Disability Vaccination Collaborative grantees expect to deliver vaccines to more than 110,000 older adults and people with disabilities while providing more than 130,000 supportive services over the duration of their grants. The grant period will span the summer months and the fall and winter, as well as the Medicare Open Enrollment period, a time when older adults are encouraged to ensure they are up to date on vaccinations such as shingles, pneumonia and others.

About WILS 

WILS is one of Missouri’s 22 Centers for Independent Living (CIL) and we have served individuals with disabilities in Benton, Henry, Johnson, Lafayette, Pettis, and Saline Counties since 1997. As a non-profit resource center, we offer programs like WILS Bucket List Club, that encourage active participation, adventure, and learning.  

About the Aging and Disability Vaccination Collaborative 

Led by USAging and funded by the U.S. Administration for Community Living, the Aging and Disability Vaccination Collaborative will distribute funding to enable organizations across the aging and disability networks to perform an array of vaccination promotion activities. Organizations selected for funding will host community vaccine clinics, provide in-home vaccinations, provide transportation to vaccination sites, and will conduct outreach and education to older adults and people with disabilities among other activities. Learn more at www.usaging.org/advc.