COVID-19 continues to be an ongoing serious health concern that disproportionately affects vulnerable and disadvantaged Victorians.

The 2023-2024 COVID-19 Community Grants Program is part of the Department of Health’s continued commitment to addressing the ongoing pandemic response.

The Program aims to maintain the Department’s strong network of community organisations for continued pandemic response, as well as inform broader public health programming and policy.

OBJECTIVES

The COVID-19 Community Grants Program (the Program) offers grants to eligible not-for-profit community organisations to:

–Engagement & Information: Provide authoritative, trusted, accurate and tailored public health information and advice to priority groups

–Support access to COVID-19 supports: Support access to COVID-19 treatment and vaccination, and their adoption of COVID-19 preventative behaviours

–Joint initiatives with partners to address health issues: Strengthen partnerships with other key stakeholders, such as community organisations, local public health units, GPs, pharmacists, GP Respiratory Clinics and community health partners to address health needs of priority groups

–Community insights: Gather and share community feedback and insights to help guide the Department’s continued pandemic response

• Reinforcing COVID safe messages
• Podcasting/vodcasting
• Dissemination of accurate information
• Translations
• Creative arts through Poems or spoken word
• Workshops

Activities for communities with specific communication needs, are targeted with:

• Easy Read English
• Audio texts- spoken word with translated texts in various languages
• Audio visual texts
• Q & A
• Podcast & vodcast presentation of COVID-19 updates, Interviews & Talk shows e.g Multicultural Dinner, 22nd Dec 2023
• CWIRE Dinner, Sat 9th Dec 2023: (a) RAT Kits & face masks distribution (b) Emphasized 6 steps to staying Safe during Summer (C) Nurse Onsite – COVID positive safe practices were emphasized, anyone unwell goes back home if they couldn’t co-operate to wear a mask.
• Multicultural Dinner, 22nd Dec 2023 –  presentations by Rob Koch, Rudo Mphande and Dr Nirav Parikh (COVID-19 safe messages, Heatwaves, High blood pressure etc,  Nurse Onsite to ensure no-one unwell attends without face masks.
• Men’s dinner on “Mo-vember” men’s health awareness and COVID-19 updates and safe behaviours by Dr Emmanuel Ndukwe, Orland Green, Andrew Gai, Mabor Chadhuol and Rabecca Mphande.

Capacity building activities  to improve the capacity of our member organisations or affiliates included:

• Making welfare check in calls
• Creative Arts Fair 3 days workshop (27-29 Dec 2023) for children and youth- infusing creative arts, mindfulness and COVID-19 updates and safe behaviours.
• Distribution of RAT Kits and face masks to young people, families, LUVPACKS partners and other new communities such as the Indian community in Cardinia and Casey councils.
• Joint development/creation of the COVID safe behaviour messages with Melton – Pasifika Community ; GoMoana and Latrobe Gippsland Local Public Health
• Podcast Production
• Interpreting , Translating 
• Connected CALD Senior Women self-care education, health (physical and mental) education workshops

• Arabic
• Amharic
• Mandarin
• Samoan
• Hindi
• Punjabi

• Somali
• Harari
• Urdu
• Xhosa
• Shona
• Indian Punjabi

IMPACTS

• Contribute towards reduced death rate at state level
• Increased community connectedness
•  Increased individual’s productivity
• Increased education and awareness of accurate COVID-19, health information.
• Civic engagement and participation; Happy, engaged, willing to interact outdoors individuals
• Increased access to timely, accurate, authoritative and appropriate information related to COVID-19.
• Established collaboration with local Respiratory Clinical GPs, LHPU & community health services 
• Decreased myths and misinformation about COVID-19
• Decrease in COVID-19 cases
• Increase in self-knowledge in health, self-care and healthy self-worth
• Ongoing use of COVID Safe practices, including scaled up intake of vaccine