Vaccine eligibility has expanded for all Michiganders aged 16 and older. The state announced last week that Michigan’s COVID-19 vaccination goal has increased from 50,000 to 100,000 shots per day.

According to the COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard, 2.85 million Michiganders have been vaccinated so far, that’s 35.2% of the state’s population. 

The Ford Field vaccination site officially opened and as of last week, over 13,000 residents have received a vaccine dose and the site is expected to distribute 335,000 doses in the next eight weeks.   

In downtown Grand Rapids, the West Michigan Vaccine Clinic at DeVos Place administered its 100,000th shot Thursday. Organizers told local media that "they think they may be vaccinating more people than any other single location in the country," with an expected 42,000 doses last week alone.

We continue to highlight efforts led and in partnership with CMF members to increase access and education around the vaccine. CMF recently reported work supported by the Community Foundation of Greater Flint, Saginaw Community Foundation and Michigan Health Endowment Fund.

In Lansing, the Cristo Rey Community Center (CRCC) announced last week they will begin distributing vaccines to vulnerable community members with the support of the Dart Foundation, a CMF member.

CRCC is a nonprofit basic needs service center that provides access to food, medical care and counseling programs to the community of Lansing. The community center has a health center that provides several medical services including vaccinations. 

Cristo Rey is first offering vaccines to its current patients who are at high risk for severe illness or death due to COVID-19.

“Cristo Rey has tight relationships with the local nonprofit agencies that serve these vulnerable populations as well as its own similarly-situated patients at its existing medical clinic, making them uniquely positioned to help vaccinate many of those in need in our community,” Emily Matthews, executive director of the Dart Foundation told CMF. 

The grant from the Dart Foundation will go towards purchasing coolers and other equipment and to offset vaccination clinic staffing costs. 

“Ensuring universal access to the vaccines is essential in helping to achieve herd immunity against the virus and to safely reopening our community for work and for play. People living in underserved and disproportionately affected areas are facing increased challenges accessing vaccines due to limited resources and heightened access challenges such as transportation, language and technology barriers,” Matthews said.

Cristo Rey is one of 22 organizations to receive doses under a Michigan Department of Health and Human Services pilot program. 

“Cristo Rey has a great reputation for delivering essential front-line services to those in need in our community and doing so on an extremely lean operating budget. Cristo Rey approached the Dart Foundation about their unique opportunity to apply for a competitive vaccine grant through the state. We responded quickly, obtaining support from our full board within a 4-hour period following Cristo Rey’s ask,” Matthews shared. 

According to Matthews, in addition to writing a letter of support for their grant with the state, the foundation’s partnership with the organization demonstrated trust-based philanthropy as the Dart Foundation made a significant commitment without ever seeing a written application and without a formal signed grant agreement in place.

“We view this program as a true partnership, and the foundation worked hard to remove as many barriers as possible to help ensure Cristo Rey is successful in this essential, mission-centric endeavor,” Matthews said. “We encourage other funders to consider supporting Cristo Rey or other organizations like Cristo Rey that are delivering high-quality front-line essential services using limited resources.”

Want more?

Learn more about the Cristo Rey Community Center’s vaccine distribution efforts. 

Join Michigan’s charitable sector leaders this Friday, April 9 for Michigan Responds: The Now, The Near and The Far Through COVID-19 and Beyond to discuss current needs and challenges our communities and nonprofits are facing.