The grant from Interfaith Youth Core funds summer internship for Elon students to work with community partners to support local efforts around COVID vaccinations.
Allison Pelyhes, multifaith coordinator with the Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life, and Kyle Anderson, Assistant Director of the Kernodle Center for Civic Life, have received a Faith in the Vaccine Ambassador Project Award from Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) to do interfaith work connecting local community partners to resources about the COVID vaccine.
The goal of the project is to use an asset-based approach to work with local organizations to address vaccine hesitancy, to amplify community outreach related to vaccine access, and to support existing vaccination sites. This includes connecting vaccine outreach efforts to the faith and values of local religious and spiritual communities.
The grant includes funding for a cohort of summer student interns, interested in working at the intersection of faith, civic life, and public health. These summer ambassadors will receive training hosted by IFYC, and they will work during the summer, remotely and in person, to support local partners in Alamance County.
This project is part of a larger IFYC effort to mobilize and curate multifaith resources on Faith and the Vaccine, and Elon University is one of 50 colleges and universities participating in the program.