Mobile Tour Launches the Return of the Esperanza Hope for All Campaign

Groundbreaking bilingual public health campaign continues countering misinformation and helping Latino families keep up-to-date on COVID-19, flu vaccinations

WASHINGTON, July 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- UnidosUS, formerly the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization, announced today the return of Esperanza Hope for All, an institution-wide initiative to mitigate the health, economic, and education effects of the coronavirus pandemic on Latinos. This year's campaign objectives include vaccinating the unvaccinated, encouraging families with children to get vaccinated, providing accurate information about boosters, tracking and addressing misinformation among the Latino community, and working with UnidosUS Affiliates to provide overall COVID-19 care and information. Now in the third year of the organization's institutional response to the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery, the campaign includes a mobile marketing tour across multiple cities to bring information about the COVID-19 vaccines and boosters directly to Hispanic neighborhoods

"Latinos were hit harder than most communities by the COVID-19 pandemic, and many are still grappling with the long-term health and economic effects of this virus. UnidosUS, our Affiliates, and the Esperanza Hope for All campaign serve as trusted voices on the COVID-19 vaccines and boosters, which continue to give our community and the nation our best chance at protecting our health. It is critically important that Latino families receive accurate, trusted health care information to guide their decisions. Doing so will help put our community and our country on the path to a sustainable recovery," said Sonia Pérez, UnidosUS Chief Operating Officer.

"The COVID-19 vaccines have helped bring back shared moments and connections. They are still the best protection we have against severe disease and death from COVID-19 and its existing variants. But we know that the pandemic is not over, and the impacts on our community require long-term investments and commitments. This includes ensuring continuing access to COVID-19 tests, vaccines, treatment and health coverage for all, regardless of insurance, ability to pay, or immigration status. We will also continue calling for investments to close vaccination gaps and expand prevention efforts to all populations including children and adolescents. Closing these gaps depends on having the right data, so investments must also be made to strengthen the collection and disaggregation of race and ethnicity data, including at the state level," said Rita Carreón, UnidosUS Vice President of Health.

UnidosUS's national and broad reaching multimedia communications campaign includes:

• Mobile Marketing Tour: UnidosUS will deploy a mobile educational tour across multiple cities that will take information about the COVID-19 vaccines and boosters directly into Hispanic neighborhoods, including those living in rural and urban environments where health resources are lacking or difficult to access. It will engage local Affiliates, partners and influencers, and will include on-site activities to increase education and awareness and direct families to vaccination sites. The tour is scheduled for July 1 – October 31 and will visit six markets (Philadelphia, PA; Denver, CO; the Fort Myers-Naples, FL area; Albuquerque/Santa Fe, NM area; and Tucson and Phoenix, AZ).
• Multimedia Advertising: UnidosUS will continue its bilingual COVID-19 vaccines and boosters education advertising campaign, including a robust dual-language advertising effort to reach Latinos through digital platforms, radio, out-of-home, and large-scale print advertising throughout key regions.
• Countering Misinformation: UnidosUS will deploy both an online and offline approach to combat misinformation targeting Latinos.
• Influencer Engagement: UnidosUS will engage trusted Latino and expert micro and macro social media influencers to shape the messaging and the conversation around COVID-19 vaccines, boosters confidence, and vaccines in general.

UnidosUS will collaborate with its Affiliate Network—essential partners in this effort—to lead on culturally responsive education and outreach by training local trusted messengers; informing through dual-language communications; providing resources for local COVID-safe outreach and vaccination events and engaging local provider and community partners. Building on last year's efforts, this year UnidosUS is deploying more than $2.2 million in subgrants to 29 Latino-serving community-based organizations including our network of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs).

Esperanza Hope for All's vaccines and booster equity efforts are backed by funding from a cooperative agreement between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and UnidosUS, and between HHS's Office of Minority Health and Morehouse School of Medicine's National COVID-19 Resiliency Network (NCRN), and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Additionally, UnidosUS has served as a national partner in collaborative efforts and taskforces leading comprehensive and coordinated action to curb the spread of COVID-19, including:

• Partnering for Vaccine Equity (P4VE) Learning Community
• National COVID-19 Resiliency Network (NCRN)
• COVID Collaborative and Ad Council
• Advancing Racial Equity in COVID-19 Response and Beyond Ad-Hoc Coalition
• COVID 19 Prevention Network
• NIH's Community Engagement Against Covid-19 Disparities (CEAL Alliance)
• COVID-19 Latinx Task Force
• Health Action Alliance

About Esperanza Hope for All
Since the start of the pandemic, UnidosUS has been at the forefront of efforts to support Latinos who have been disproportionately impacted due to long-standing systemic health inequities and over-representation in the health and service sectors. In April 2020, UnidosUS established its Esperanza/Hope Fund to support the UnidosUS Affiliate Network and community partners' response and resiliency in crisis. In 2021 the campaign expanded as a fully integrated public communications and marketing campaign called Esperanza Hope for All. With the ongoing need, UnidosUS continues to raise resources for Affiliates to respond to the pandemic, including their direct support to families for food and housing assistance.

About UnidosUS
UnidosUS, previously known as NCLR (National Council of La Raza), is the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. Through its unique combination of expert research, advocacy, programs, and an Affiliate Network of nearly 300 community-based organizations across the United States and Puerto Rico, UnidosUS simultaneously challenges the social, economic, and political barriers that affect Latinos at the national and local levels. For more than 50 years, UnidosUS has united communities and different groups seeking common ground through collaboration, and that share a desire to make our country stronger. For more information on UnidosUS, visit www.unidosus.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Contact: Beth Melena, [email protected]

SOURCE UnidosUS