Nonprofit Staten Island and specifically the Staten Island Community Organizations Active in Disaster (SI COAD) coalition formed a partnership with The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to deploy proactive outreach, awareness, and engagement in communities most at risk for the Orthopox/Monkeypox Virus (Mpox) infection. The term of this engagement lasted from August 2022 – December 31st, 2022.

The SI COAD leveraged partnerships with subcontracted partners Project Hospitality and Super Health Pharmacy and their staff/hired community ambassadors to lead and execute on the Tier 1 partnership deliverables for MAPP. This included the deployment of proactive outreach and engagement in communities most at risk for Mpox to help stem the 2022 outbreak in New York City, and mitigate potential inequities in outcomes and health care access in the borough of Staten Island through:

1. Raising awareness about the virus and local prevention, testing, and care options that are affirming and non-stigmatizing; and
2. Connecting community members to services including vaccination appointments through navigation.

Leveraging lessons, during the COVID-19 pandemic about equitable, community-centered approaches to education, outreach, prevention, and vaccination uptake. This program utilized four principal strategies.

• Partner with trusted and credible messengers, generally people who share lived experience and racial or ethnic backgrounds with their intended audiences, to lead community engagement efforts.
• Prioritize BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color) and other populations thattraditional public health programming might not otherwise reach.
• Raise awareness about the virus and local prevention, testing, and care options that are affirming and non-stigmatizing, and connect community members to vaccination appointment navigation and other services.
• Offer tailored and contextualized Mpox prevention education that is accessible and culturally and linguistically responsive, at locations where communities at the highest risk regularly congregate.