Black Ottawa Connect (BOC) and Young Black Professionals will be hosting a panel next week where Black medical professionals will answer questions on COVID-19.<\/p>\n
Organizers felt the initiative was needed after seeing multiple posts, questions and confusion surrounding COVID-19 within the BOC Facebook group.<\/p>\n
\"That's exactly it, what we're looking forward to is having a discussion,\" said Meron Berhe, regional coordinator for Maternal Child Health Registry and founder of the BOC Facebook group.<\/p>\n
BOC is a non-profit organization that gives Black people a safe space to gather, heal and thrive and holds events and programs. The BOC Facebook group has over 4,200 members from the Black community in the Ottawa-Gatineau region.<\/p>\n
Young Black Professionals is a networking organization that's focus is to provide mentorship, coaching and knowledge sharing opportunities to Black youth.<\/p>\n
\"We're just looking to provide people with information, so they can make informed decisions,\" added Natalie Tate, a federal public service worker who runs the Ottawa Young Black Professionals organization.<\/p>\n
The panel will feature four Black medical professionals from Ottawa:<\/p>\n
The panel is framed as a safe space for the Black community and for anyone who may have any serious doubts, or who may just want to voice concerns when it comes to COVID-19, the vaccine and\/or staying safe and healthy throughout these hard times.<\/p>\n
\"The World Health Organization has this amazing myth buster section<\/a> that I recently found out about, and I think that'd be an amazing place to check,\" said Berhe.<\/p>\n Join Black Ottawa Connect and Young Black Professionals this March 27, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and sign up here<\/a> for the link.<\/p>\n