On the afternoon of April 3, Sowing Seeds of Hope sent a letter to Governor Ivey and Dr. Scott Harris, Alabama’s State Health Officer, that urged the state to create free COVID-19 testing options in Perry County and around the Black Belt. The letter was signed by 284 Alabamians who represented every geographic region of the state and a wide variety of age groups, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds. It referenced the support of 344 more Americans outside the state who signed our online petition.

Within a few hours, Michele Jones, Chief of Staff for Dr. Harris, responded to our request and informed us that the Alabama Department of Public Health would be setting up a temporary pop-up testing site at the Perry County Health Department from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm on Thursday, April 9. While we still hope to see long-term, free, more easily accessible testing options in the Black Belt, we believe pop-up sites like this one are an important step toward addressing the issue. We are thankful for the immediate action being taken by ADPH.

Sowing Seeds of Hope acknowledges and appreciates the advocacy efforts of the Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, State Senators Malika Sanders-Fortier and Bobby Singleton, and Perry County Commissioner Albert Turner, Jr., who have also been working diligently to expand COVID-19 testing in the Black Belt.