• Shots At The Shop FAQ Terms and Conditions

  • By filling out this form, I give SheaMoisture permission to share my email with the Black Coalition Against Covid-19, University of Maryland and associated groups to participate in this program.

     

    What is the “Shots at the Shop” initiative?

     

    The initiative is a collaboration to engage barbershops and beauty salons in communities all across the nation in the effort to ensure that their communities have immunity from COVID-19. In conjunction with the Black Coalition Against COVID, the University of Maryland Center for Health Equity and SheaMoisture, the Administration is working with shops to ensure that barbers and stylists have all of their questions about the vaccine answered, as well as to provide vaccine education materials and resources—and even vaccinations, themselves—in the shop.

  • The Application process:
     

    • To get the process started, eligible shops who are interested in participating can visit SheaMoistureFund.com to register. SheaMoisture will collect applicants through an open registration form. Applicants will be vetted based on the following criteria: 

    o    Must be owner-operated. Only 1 event per shop location.

    o    Have sufficient clientele to allow for health promotion

    o    Have a sufficient number of barbers/stylists for substantive outreach

    o    Located in an area of greatest need. 

     

     

    • SheaMoisture will select up to 1,000 shops to receive $1,000 stipends for participating in the initiative.
    • Once selected, applicants will then be contacted by the University of Maryland to receive vaccine site training information.
    • Once trained and qualified, businesses will be contacted by Official Black Wall Street to sign up to be featured on the Capital App. The app will feature a curated page where communities across the nation can locate participating businesses in their local neighborhoods where they can receive the vaccine.
    • Official Black Wall Street will also verify and disseminate funds to each of the participating businesses.
    • Eligible business must serve at least 51% Black demographic.
    • Timeline: Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis

    What was the impetus for the initiative?

     

    President Biden's goal of having 70% of adults vaccinated by July 4th is both audacious and essential. With every week that passes, the “moveable middle” of folks considering vaccination shrinks, with people becoming increasingly entrenched in their unvaccinated status for a number of reasons. This is particularly true in communities of color—specifically the Black community—where we have generally seen a slower pace of vaccination and higher levels of vaccine hesitancy that most White communities.

     

    Although the trusted messenger model has been a focal point of most vaccine confidence efforts, this has tended to focus on healthcare providers and leaders of community-based and faith-based organizations. Meanwhile—due to unique dynamics of trust, candor and community—a significant body of literature describes the consistent impact of public health outreach through Black barbershops and beauty salons. These shops have served as “nerve centers” where people conducted voter registration campaigns, discussed sports, politics and relationships. These shops are ideal, non-medical environments for discussion, action and partnerships around improving health in the Black community.

     

  • When will it officially begin?

     

    The initiative kicks off with a Town Hall hosted by the Black Coalition Against COVID, Wednesday, June 2, from 7-8:45PM. Thousands of barbers and stylists from across the country have been invited to hear updates on the COVID-19 pandemic from Dr. Nunez-Smith and Dr. Webb before turning to a panel of barbers and stylists discussing their own work to combat COVID-19.

     

    More detailed information about how to participate in the broader Shots at the Shop initiative will be provided at the Town Hall.

     

     

    How will initial sites be selected?

     

    We’re inviting barbershops and beauty salons from across the country to participate in the initiative. That includes shops in urban areas and in rural areas, across geographic regions of the country, and with various levels of experience doing community or public health outreach.

    In order to be eligible, each shop must (1) be owner-operated, (2) have sufficient clientele to allow for health promotion, and (3) have a sufficient number of barbers/stylists for substantive outreach. To get the process started, eligible shops who are interested in participating can visit SheaMoistureFund.com to register. SheaMoisture and the Black Coalition Against COVID will work together to verify shop eligibility, and prioritize based on areas of greatest need. SheaMoisture is selecting up to 1,000 shops to receive $1,000 stipends for participating in the initiative, which will be a significant incentive for participation. Eligible business must serve at least 51% Black demographic.

     

    What are the priority locations?

     

    Based on current vaccination rates and demographic trends, priority cities include:

    Large cities: Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Raleigh, San Antonio

    Medium-sized cities: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Greensboro / Winston-Salem, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Memphis, Phoenix, Norfolk / VA Beach, Riverside / San Bernadino, St. Louis

    Small cities: Birmingham, Columbia SC, El Paso, Fresno, Little Rock, Orlando, Spokane, Tampa

    Shops in rural communities are also strongly encouraged to register to participate, and will be given full consideration for inclusion in the initiative. Every locality will be individually assessed as to the potential for impact of the initiative through their shop, particularly in light of vaccinate rates and gaps in the surrounding community.

     

    How will we train the barbers and stylists?

     

    Participating shops will receive an online training held by the University of Maryland’s School of Public Health. The four-hour course is entitled “COVID-19 Rapid Response Training for Barbers & Stylists: From Vaccine Hesitancy to Vaccine Confidence” and is led by Dr. Stephen B. Thomas. It is drawn from material Dr. Thomas has used for 15 years in transforming barbershops and beauty salons into culturally relevant portals for health education and the delivery of public health and medical services.

     

    Are we providing any funding or hard resources?

     

    Part of the beauty of this collaboration is that it really merges several entities who were already interested in engaging with barbershops and beauty salons to advance COVID-19 vaccine education and vaccination efforts, primarily for the Black community. One of our collaborators in this initiative, SheaMoisture, is providing $1 million in direct funding to barbershops and beauty salons in conjunction with this effort. This is the second time they’ve provided such funding, as they launched a $1 million relief fund last April to help support women entrepreneurs and small business owners of color.

     

    In terms of the collaboration, every partner in this effort has a different role. The Black Coalition Against COVID is coordinating the initiative and the partners, the Maryland Center for Health Equity is training the barbers and stylists, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is providing the education materials and resources for use in-shops, and SheaMoisture is financially supporting the shops with a $1,000 stipend to each participating shop.

     

    What measurable outcomes do we hope to see from the initiative?

     

    There are certainly some measurable outcomes that we’ll track, such as:

    -       the number of participating shops

    -       the number of barbers and stylists who receive training

    -       the number of individuals who receive education in shops, and

    -       the number of vaccination events held

    More than that, though, we hope that the initiative establishes a mechanism to provide facts to push back on misinformation in many of the hardest-hit communities that still have lower vaccination rates. It’s about more than the individuals who receive vaccination education while sitting in the chair or who attend a barbershop or beauty salon vaccination event. It’s about the conversations they go on to have with family members, friends, neighbors and coworkers. It’s about turning shop talk into productive community conversations about vaccination.

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