Grace Jin, Author at Get Us PPE

Jul 24 2020

Black Lives Matter protesters wearing protective masks, PPE for Black Lives Fund

Racism is a Public Health Crisis: Black and Latino Americans Hit Hardest by COVID-19

By Grace Jin Advocacy

By Sarah Lee Deep-rooted racial inequities and the structural impacts of white supremacy have led to widespread health disparities between racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Especially during public health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic, institutional racism leaves minority populations more susceptible to viruses and the diseases they cause. Although early studies identified the elderly and the immunocompromised at greatest risk from COVID-19, researchers are now redirecting their focus to population-level risk factors. Race has been found to be as influential—if not more—as age in determining the likelihood of developing a severe form of illness and leading to…

Jul 10 2020

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Get Us PPE Partners with SOUNDOFF Design to Support Health Care Workers

By Grace Jin Partners

By Unnati Gupta and Deepthi Sathya Over the past few months, our country has witnessed movements sparked by racial injustices and health disparities within our society, which have pushed Americans to mobilize for social change through multiple channels. One organization used clothing as their channel for activism: SOUNDOFF Design. As a clothing company, their mission is to create a platform to represent a diverse community and give voice to individuals from various backgrounds. SOUNDOFF clothing collections represent a range of issues, from Black Lives Matter to Pride, which compose the fabric of American society. With powerful messages conveyed through graphics,…

Jul 08 2020

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Puppy Store Self-Funds 100 Cloth Masks for Everyone Home DC

By Grace Jin Impact Stories

When early March brought the first major outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S, Linda Bauer and her team at My Next Puppy braced for impact, portending the closure of “non-essential” small businesses. A local, family-owned and operated puppy store in Chantilly, VA, My Next Puppy was especially vulnerable, as shutting down its puppy care facility wasn’t an option. “We’re just one, brick and mortar, mom and pop kind of place, and when this all started, my thought was, ‘Who am I gonna have to lay off?’” said Bauer. “That was the scariest thing in the world.” But Virginia deemed My…

Jul 08 2020

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Phone Banking Initiative to Update the Get Us PPE Demand Database

By Grace Jin Advocacy, PPE Insights

By Emma Swidler, a Team Leader for the Phone Banking Initiative and a blog contributor at GetUsPPE.org. By late April, many states were eagerly preparing to reopen. But frontline workers knew that the nation was nowhere close to a state of safety. Amed Family Clinic in Nashville, Tennessee was one of many healthcare facilities within the US that had rapidly dwindling PPE supplies. Staff and doctors were using rain ponchos as gowns, and the number of cases at the clinic were rising. As more facilities faced the same bleak reality, Dr. Megan Ranney and Dr. Shuhan He, Co-Founders of GetUsPPE,…

Jul 06 2020

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Medical Students in COVID-19 Response Efforts

By Grace Jin Stories From the Frontlines

By Varsha Venkatakrishna, a medical student in NYC and the Advocacy Communications Lead at GetUsPPE.org. As U.S. healthcare workers braced for the impact of COVID-19, the nation’s medical students took it upon themselves to find ways to support the relief response. As their classes and rotations moved online, medical students found themselves amidst a global health crisis with free time, clinical skills, and hunger to support their colleagues on the front lines. Unfortunately, most medical students were largely restricted from patient contact amid fears of exacerbating the existing PPE shortage. This wouldn’t stop student efforts, however. Despite the abrupt break…

Jun 29 2020

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The PPE for Black Lives Fund

By Grace Jin Advocacy, PPE Insights

In June, over 46,900 units of PPE were distributed by GetUsPPE affiliates to Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters in cities including Los Angeles, New Orleans, Cincinnati, Chicago, New York, New Haven, Chicago, Portland, and Washington D.C. The PPE being made and delivered to protesters is supported by our PPE for Black Lives Fund, which we recently launched to fundraise for this vital area of work. The fund supports PPE going to protesters, and any additional funding for protective equipment left over if and when protesters no longer need it will be directed toward healthcare and essential workers in Black communities….

Jun 23 2020

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Getting PPE to those on the front lines of the fight against racism

By Grace Jin Advocacy, Stories From the Frontlines

By Grace Jin, a blog contributor at GetUsPPE.org. As a public health initiative founded on principles of safety, GetUsPPE stands in solidarity with the thousands of people marching for Black lives across the United States. To help protect the protesters taking to the streets during the COVID-19 pandemic, our network of affiliates have mobilized to distribute over 46,900 masks and other PPE to community-led organizations and Black Lives Matter (BLM) demonstrators, as well as medical-grade supplies to street medics assisting injured protesters. We asked some of our coalition members about their efforts to distribute PPE, why direct action is important,…

Jun 13 2020

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The Double Pandemic: Protecting Protesters From Covid-19 and Police Brutality

By Grace Jin Advocacy, Communities in Need of PPE

By Grace Jin, a blog contributor at GetUsPPE.org. GetUsPPE formed out of a fundamental conviction that when lives are put at risk, we all need to step up. That’s why we’ve rallied together to coordinate donations and distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) to healthcare workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis. That’s also why we stand in support of protests against police violence and structural racism, set off by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and other Black Americans. As the pandemic continues, cloth masks are an essential piece of PPE for those taking to…

May 31 2020

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Get Us PPE Volunteer Spotlight: Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Edition

By Grace Jin Interviews

By Grace Jin and Mai Lynn Miller Nguyen Volunteers are the engine of GetUsPPE, from the founding physicians to those contributing their commitment and skills at every level. As Asian Pacific American Heritage Month comes to a close, we celebrate some of our many volunteers of Asian descent, as well as all Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders (AAPI) on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19. This heritage month arrives at a moment when Asian Americans face a rising tide of xenophobia and scapegoating, with more than 1,700 incidents of harassment submitted to the Stop AAPI Hate reporting center since mid-March. As…

May 25 2020

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Get Us PPE’s Dr. Megan Ranney Testifies at Congressional Briefing to Protect Frontline and Essential Workers

By Grace Jin Advocacy, PPE Insights, Stories From the Frontlines

By Alison Mosier-Mills, a blog contributor at GetUsPPE.org. On Thursday, May 21, GetUsPPE’s Dr. Megan Ranney testified before the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus. She discussed the impact of the crisis on medical staff and first responders, highlighting the urgent need for protective gear and proposing a path toward a sustainable and equitable supply chain. These priorities will be essential to providing high-quality care to Covid-19 patients while also ensuring the well-being of the frontline workers who treat them. Across the country, hospitals have been overwhelmed by the volume of patients requiring intensive treatment for Covid-19—and many frontline healthcare workers…

Grace Jin

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