EDMONTON -- The city approved an agreement Friday to distribute $1.5 million to community groups helping Edmontonians at high risk of COVID-19 transmission.
The province announced the funding in December and asked both Edmonton and Calgary use it to create COVID care teams to provide on-the-ground support to hard hit neighbourhoods.
Twelve Edmonton agencies are involved and are collaborating to provide immediate help to those who test positive for COVID-19 or who need to isolate.
"I think the premier has put personal sweat and effort into making this happen and it's tailored in Edmonton, to our community," said mayor Don Iveson during a media availability Friday. "It's an example of what we'd like to do more of, not just on COVID but beyond, to get things done."
The Mennonite Centre for Newcomers, Catholic Social Services and the John Humphrey Centre are just a few of the local agencies taking part.
Households most at risk have been identified as ones where residents work on the front-lines, have high-density living arrangements due to low income, house newcomers and people with language barriers.
Supports include care packages with masks, hand sanitizer and multilingual information on the pandemic.
Since December, the care team has handed out more than 35,000 care packages through the Edmonton Food Bank and the city's school districts.
Moving forward, the team is expected to help more than 7,000 individuals and families.
