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Greetings,
 

Chuck Black's family comes from the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. His roots have inspired everything from Black's music taste to his research and advocacy work. Black has taught old-time and Appalachian music and worked as a broadcaster for regional radio stations - one could call him a jack of all trades. Learn more about Black's upbringing and what inspires him to do what he does in this week's blog post by Mike Templeton.

Thanks to those who attended or participated in last week's open mic event - it was a great success. The events keep rolling in! Check out a breadth of upcoming events within the UACC community below.

Sincerely,
UACC
 
Last Week's Virtual Open Mic Event Recap

Much thanks to those who attended and/or participated in last Tuesday's cultural event, Y'all Join In: An open mic for poetry, music and stories. Our three featured artists read powerful work, much of it about the experience of being Black Appalachians. Brave and honest. The open mic that followed was lovely, with music as well as poems and stories. We had a visitor from India who also read, as well as local and regional Appalachians.

Don't forget to keep checking our weekly newsletters each Monday and follow our Facebook page, Facebook group, and Instagram page if you have not already done so. We post our events, announcements, and other content regularly! Be the first to know by following, liking, and sharing.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL BLOG POST
CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL PERFORMANCES

   
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE
ABOUT THIS ARTIST ON OUR CULTURAL DIRECTORY WEBPAGE
Center for Closing the Health Gap COVID-19 Resources
Health Gap, a UACC partner organization, has partnered with the City and County Health Department to help expedite the registration process for the Covid-19 Vaccine. Vaccines are currently available for community members over the age 65 and with a specific set of medical conditions, visit THIS LINK. If you know families that would like to receive the vaccine but have not been able they can sign-up HERE.


COVID-19 Vaccine Appointment Info 
For private sector providers, Cincinnati-area residents are being advised in the media to use the website of the Health Collaborative for accurate information on appointments once they reach an eligible category. To do this, click on the "Vaccine Info" link on their website http://testandprotectcincy.com and then scroll down to the “Are You Eligible?” section.
 
Under “Are You Eligible?” there are large icons with appointment links and phone numbers for thirteen prominent providers, each linked to their vaccination registration portals. Below are links to longer “Vaccination Location” lists from state-run sites for Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. The Indiana link goes directly to its provider list. On the Kentucky page, you click on the Vaccine Provider Enrollment “Register” link to go to a statewide registration portal.
 
The State of Ohio list is two levels down at the webpage, https://vaccine.coronavirus.ohio.gov. To sort the list by county, hover over the "County" heading and click the small “A-Z” button that as you hover appears at the right of the heading text. Then scroll down and you’ll see the providers for your county.
 
The City of Cincinnati Health Department has a vaccine registration portal for city health clinics and facilities at the site https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/health/covid-19/vaccine-information-sign-up/. If you register at this site, you should expect to be contacted once you become eligible. Those who have signed up before they become eligible are reporting not having received any response at all. When you become eligible and are contacted, you are invited to a pre-screening portal where you can verify your eligibility and make an appointment.
 
THE REGISTRATION EXPERIENCE
 
There is a shortage of vaccine doses that will become more dramatic as more demographic groups become eligible. What we are hearing is that each provider opens up appointments only for their available doses. These appointments are quickly taken, and then you won't be able to register for an appointment with that provider. With new deliveries arriving at unpredictable times, a provider might open appointments at any time. Making an appointment may mean making repeated attempts with several providers.
 
Some of the providers are health care networks where you may be an established patient. If you have an electronic medical record (MyChart), you may be automatically registered and will receive appointment info through the electronic system when you become eligible. The health care network appointment portals are available for anyone to use. If you are not an established patient, the website will explain how to register.
 
The appointment process may vary with the different providers. They may or may not allow you to register ahead for an appointment date later when you become eligible. Appointment availability may differ with phone vs. website access. If vaccine supplies are scarce, you may spend several hours trying one provider after another. You may get an appointment based on an expected vaccine delivery, and then find the appointment canceled if the delivery hasn’t arrived.
 
OTHER VACCINE INFO
 
Here are some area websites with information about getting the vaccine and the phases of eligibility through early February.  Recheck websites often as information changes frequently.
  THE VACCINE EXPERIENCE

UACC’s Michael Maloney became eligible on January 19th and has received the first dose. Here is his story: “I am 80 years old.  I went to the Cincinnati Health Department site and was able to register and get my shot within 2 days.  The registration process was frustrating because it seemed like I had to repeat the same information over and over and my partner had to help.  And then they sent me multiple e-mails with instructions.  At the site, a gym in Corryville, things went very well.  I got the shot in 7 minutes and had to sit on a bench 15 minutes to make sure I was OK.  The shot was painless and I do not even have a sore arm.  Maybe some fatigue the second day.” 
Other stories we are hearing: That some providers are overbooking, and then sending email appointment cancellations when supplies run out. That some are having hour-long waits outdoors. That health care networks are indeed more sophisticated, with waiting lists, alerts when doses are unexpectedly available, etc.
 
WHAT VACCINATION MEANS FOR YOU
 
Much has been said about the approximately-95% efficacy of the first group of vaccines. What this number means is that soon after the two-dose vaccine regimen your risk of infection is reduced by 95%. But remember that in the clinical trials, some vaccinated people did get sick, so there is some chance you will also. And it is not known if vaccinated people shed pathogens if they are exposed. Because a vaccinated person still has some risk of getting sick and infecting others, you still need to take precautions such as wearing masks and limiting contacts.
 
In the period after the first dose, manufacturer data show that your risk of infection is reduced by around 50%. In the first two weeks after your first dose, there is little protection at all. After two weeks the first dose efficacy increases substantially, but manufacturers did not test the long-term efficacy of a single dose. Once you get the second dose, you reach 95% efficacy after about one week.
 
Remember that when you are in contact with another person, your risk of infection is reduced not just by your vaccination but theirs also, just as by your mask and their mask also. Your vaccination does not mean you can take your mask off, it means if you wear your mask you'll be much safer. We will be free of Covid when enough people reduce their risk (by vaccination and other means) so that the virus can no longer find hosts to spread to.

Pauletta Hansel to be Featured during Word of Moth Cincinnati's Virtual Event
Tuesday, March 30 @ 7 PM

UACC Core Member, Pauletta Hansel, will be featured during Word of Mouth Cincinnnati's upcoming virtual Zoom event tomorrow, Tuesday, March 30 starting at 7 PM. Don't miss out on hearing Hansel share her work. Register HERE.

Zoom Café - NKY Forum Covington and Brent Spence Bridge: A Discussion with Mayor Joe Meyer

Wednesday, March 31 @ 8:45-9:45 AM



Pop: with Robert Gipe & Pauletta Hansel
Thursday, April 1 @ 7 PM

Join author Robert Gipe in conversation with Pauletta Hansel about his latest book, Pop: An Illustrated Novel.

Pop is the third and final novel in Robert Gipe’s renowned Canard County series, Pop follows three generations of a family as they reckon with the changing landscape of Appalachia during the Trump era.
Robert Gipe lives and works in Harlan County, Kentucky. Pop is his third Ohio University Press novel. His first, Trampoline, won the 2016 Weatherford Award for Appalachian novel of the year. His second novel, Weedeater, was a Weatherford finalist. For the past thirty years he has worked in arts-based organizing and is the founding coproducer of the Higher Ground community performance series. He has contributed to numerous journals and anthologies, is a playwright, and is currently a script consultant on a forthcoming television show based on Beth Macy’s Dopesick. Gipe spoke at The Mercantile Library as part of the Appalachian Studies Association Conference in April 2018.

Pauletta Hansel’s eighth poetry collection is Friend, epistolary poems written in the early days of the pandemic; others include Coal Town Photograph and Palindrome, winner of the 2017 Weatherford Award for best Appalachian poetry. Her writing has been featured in Oxford American, Rattle, Appalachian Journal, Still: The Journal and New Verse News, among others. Pauletta was Cincinnati’s first Poet Laureate (2016-2018), and is past managing editor of Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, the journal of the Southern Appalachian Writers Cooperative. Hansel has spoken at The Mercantile Library multiple times, and even volunteered as a bartender.

This program is free and open to the public. Copies of Pop can be ordered online via Joseph-Beth Cincinnati.

Zoom Rise Up and Sing Concert: Repairing the Breach
Saturday, April 10 @ 7 PM

Annie Petterson and Peter Blood are the creators of the well-known Rise Up Singing and Rise Up Again songbooks, including many Appalachian songs. They're also great performers. This is Benefit for the Ohio Poor People's Campaign!

Get tickets HERE!



2021 "Women Speak"
May 1 - July 30

The submission portal for the 2021 Women of Appalachia spoken word event opens May 1! Submit your work here once they open.
Want to learn more? Vsit us at www.uacvoice.org or follow us on Facebook!

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Urban Appalachian Community Coalition · 5829 Wyatt Ave · Cincinnati, OH 45213-2122 · USA

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