SLU Helps Vaccinate University's Neighbors at Church Vaccine Clinic

Caring for the community does not begin and end at the campus boundaries.

Members of the School of Social Work, aided by the Office of Mission and Identity, are part of a long-standing working group comprised of St. Louis area faith leaders. Jesse Helton, Ph.D., associate professor in the School of Social Work and a member of the group, spoke with SLU’s COVID-19 Vaccination Team about assisting the group’s pastors with vaccination efforts. 

Saint Louis University began to provide COVID-19 vaccines for members of the SLU community who were eligible under the state’s guidelines as vaccine was made available. Soon after, the University also began helping leaders of neighboring churches vaccinate their members.

Rev. Kevin Kosh is the pastor of the Beloved Methodist Church and an assistant campus minister at SLU. He mentors students and faculty in his role at SLU.

“We have a monthly Zoom meeting,” Kosh said. “When COVID-19 vaccines became available, we realized that this was another way SLU could continue its outreach to the community around the campus.”

Kosh reached out to area pastors and offered up the Beloved Methodist Church as a clinic site. Students from the Trudy Busch Valentine School of Nursing at SLU volunteered their time as vaccinators at the Saturday morning clinic.

Members of multiple congregations came to the vaccination clinic, plus some Harris Stowe State University employees. 

“We were able to vaccinate about 130 people,” Kosh said. “In addition to the church members, we had all the employees of a small local business come in. They are in the delivery business and told us it was a Godsend to get their people vaccinated. They were so appreciative that we could help.”

Kosh said earlier clinics organized by SLU and the local faith community assisted in getting more than 300 senior citizens vaccinated. The vaccines were part of the state’s allotment to SLU, according to Terri Rebmann, Ph.D., special assistant to the president and leader of SLU’s Vaccination Team. 

Saint Louis University continues to offer vaccines to faculty, staff, students and household members of the SLU community who are eligible under Missouri’s guidelines. SLU community are asked to fill out the University’s eligibility survey if they haven’t done so already.