Providing data support to inform equitable resource allocation for short-term COVID-19 response and recovery in Corpus Christi and Victoria, Texas

The Foundation's Data for Healthy Communities initiative was designed to create the conditions in communities that allow all residents to reach their best possible health and well-being by: (1) strengthening the evidence base for how conditions of place impact health; (2) extending the use of data and evidence throughout the decision-making process, including policy; (3) using data collection and analysis to bring communities closer together by building the capacity of places to use data, develop leaders, and genuinely engage their community; and (4) developing norms, behaviors, and formal rules of interaction related to how data are communicated and used to address problems and initiate change in underserved communities.Working closely with United Ways in Victoria and Corpus Christi, Texas, Community Information Now (CI:Now) will identify and integrate disparate local datasets, including ad hoc surveys and administrative data, and will analyze and communicate the data in an understandable and actionable way for the use of the United Ways, other local philanthropy, and city and county leadership to inform equitable allocation of COVID-19 response and recovery efforts. Victoria and Corpus Christi are seeing a rise in COVID-19 but lack good local data to inform a coordinated response and recovery effort. The two cities are still struggling to recover from Hurricane Harvey before COVID-19 ever hit. Both shoulder stark racial/ethnic and neighborhood inequities. That data support is expected to result in resource allocation for short-term COVID-19 response and recovery that responds effectively to local needs and decreases, rather than exacerbates, health inequities. Deliverables will include: (1) potential products based on community needs, such as custom maps, charts, and infographics; and (2) 'just in time' data literacy training.