Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center Featured in newhavenarts.org Article

The health center was featured in a newhavenarts.org article on October 20, 2020. 

It reads:

In front of the Quinnipiac River, Dori Dumas turned to the crowd dressed in a shirt with the words WeAreDoneDying:Vote and a Black Lives Matter face mask. She invoked the legacy of Congressman John Lewis and his fight for the 1965 Voting Rights Act. She explained that she stands on his shoulders—and the shoulders of all those who fought for the right to vote.

“It is our turn to get into good trouble.”

Dumas is the president of the Greater New Haven chapter of the NAACP. Saturday, she joined local officials and community organizers at Quinnipiac River Park in Fair Haven for a rally to increase voter engagement and participation across the city. The event was spearheaded by Kica Matos, an immigration rights activist and the vice president of initiatives for the Vera Institute of Justice and organizer Shana Jackson.

“I am angry,” Jackson said Saturday. “ I am angry at the killing of Black and brown bodies, the caging of Black and brown bodies. I couldn't allow my anger to consume me and make me sick.”

The rally included participation from the Bangladesh Society of CT, the New Haven Registrar of Voters, the New Haven Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity's Chi Omicron, and Views From the Struggle. The Hamden Dance and Music (H.A.M.D) team and Movimiento Cultural both performed sets to liven up the crowd.

The day was dedicated to getting out the vote in a COVID-19 safe environment. Jackson, a librarian at the Yale Law School, organized a similar rally alongside Matos in Hamden in July of this year. She went to barbershops, corner stores, and other local businesses encouraging people to show up. While she had never organized in the past, she said, she was comfortable reaching out.

“I am not afraid of my community,” she said. “The narrative placed onto our community [by the White House] is a false narrative.”

Jackson also enlisted the help of Cornell Scott Hill Health Center to offer free COVID-19 testing for attendees and passers-by. Angel Ramirez, the practice coordinator for the testing, explained that free testing is especially important in lower-income neighborhoods including Fair Haven, as it eliminates the cost barrier for uninsured and underinsured residents.

While the state of Connecticut has said that people will not be charged for COVID-19 testing, several New Haveners have reported paying out of pocket, or receiving letters that their insurance will only cover a partial amount.

Robin Moody-Davis, the marketing and outreach coordinator for Cornell Scott, has seen an increase in testing as cases go up. At the event, the health center tested 47 people, a significant increase from the roughly 20 people tested at other popup events. The increase in testing comes as COVID-19 cases continue to rise across the city.

Article continues at newhavenarts.org