Day 38: The Vaccine

Every weeknight, two volunteers come from Nexus Health Solutions, LLC to offer the Johnson and Johnson to our guests. 

We walk through the dorm announcing their arrival and giving people the option to accept or refuse the vaccine. 

Jaime and Megan Arriola run the clinic/center in El Paso. They explained to me that they mostly serve the working poor/migrant community here. During the beginning of the pandemic they offered free testing to residents and now they administer vaccines at all three of our shelters. 

They said that they generally find migrant communities to be more responsive and open to getting the vaccine than most of the Americans they work with. 

Many of our guests come when they hear the announcement, knowing that it may heighten their chances of finding and securing employment. They are always so grateful. 

It's ironic to me that our guests, many of whom have been confronted with blatant discrimination and violence from ICE officials, are quicker to trust governmental/medical authorities than US citizens who haven't faced these conditions. Speaks volumes. 


(Jaime and Megan also run an alpaca farm a few miles away from the shelter and invited me there to buy yarn.) 

Comments

  1. outdoor59July 2, 2021 at 4:55 PM

    Yes, it does speak volumes dear Nell. Thanks for pointing this out. This is just one of many examples, as you well know. Your insight and reflections are powerful and compelling. They make me look at things from a different perspective, mostly a perspective of gratitude and an awareness that I was born into a privileged lifestyle, unlike so many in this world, those that you are seeing day after day.

    I take it as a call to action for those like me to do what we can to help and improve the lives of our fellow human beings who by happenstance have a completely different (often terrifying) experience of this world.

    Thanks again for your good work, and for you blogging and building awareness.

    xoxo,Mary

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