CORE Response - Annual Report 2020

6
POINTS OF DISTINCTION
In March 2020, CORE partnered with the
City of LA, the Mayor’s Office, and LAFD
to begin taking over operations at testing
sites across Los Angeles and allow first
responders to return to their vital work in
the community. By the end of April, CORE
was administering over 6,000 tests per
day citywide.
By May 2020, CORE was operating the
largest testing site in the U.S. in the
parking lot of Dodger Stadium, which at
its height could test 13,000 people daily.
At peak operations, CORE administered
over 40,000 tests per day in Los
Angeles alone and thousands more in
communities across the U.S.
In addition to sustained efforts with
Haiti Takes Root, the School of Hope,
reconstructing the Faculty of Sciences
Department building, and other legacy
programs, CORE provided tailored
COVID-19 relief in Haiti, working with
communities through education,
establishing water stations, and
distributing hygiene kits to support safety
in markets and neighborhoods.
In the void of a unified approach to
battling the pandemic in the U.S., CORE
developed “The CORE 8” as guidelines
for an integrated approach to combatting
COVID-19 for both government and
citizens. CORE also created guides for
widespread replication on how to run
community-based testing operations and
a site manager’s manual based on lessons
learned on the frontlines.
To best serve hard-hit and at-risk
communities, CORE adapted its
operations from fixed sites to mobilize
directly to these communities with a fleet
of nimble mobile units providing testing
and wraparound services, such as food,
PPE, and unemployment resources.
As protestors took to the streets against
police brutality and racial injustice, CORE
stationed mobile units in Washington,
D.C., and Georgia to provide free
COVID-19 testing to those exercising their
civic right to safely protest.
Through an integrated approach of testing, contact
tracing, and essential resource coordination, CORE
and its partners helped flatten the curve and slow
the rapid spread of COVID-19 on the Navajo Nation,
which was one of the hardest-hit regions in the world in the spring. In 2020, CORE distributed 30,000 hygiene
kits and built 100 shelters to proactively shield Diné elders and vulnerable family members in overcrowded
households from COVID-19.