Time - USA (2021-03-15)

47

It takes about eIght mInutes to

try and save a life.

Or at least that’s how long it takes a

volunteer with a tablet, standing in the

parking lot at the T.R. Hoover commu-

nity development center in South Dal-

las on a bitterly cold February morn-

ing. During the pandemic, the small

nonprofit situated in the neighborhood

that developers in the 1920s dubbed

“the Ideal community” has taken on

an ever evolving list of roles. It’s a job-

search center. It’s a drive-through food

pantry. And, of late, T.R. Hoover is an

in-person corona virus vaccine registra-

tion site aimed at helping Ideal’s mainly

Black residents, and anyone else who

finds their way here, do what for several

weeks the county’s online-only registra-

tion system has failed to do: put them in

line for a shot in the arm.

In January, as first national and then

local news began describing the impend-

ing arrival of corona virus vaccines, peo-

ple visiting T.R Hoover’s drive-through

food pantry started asking questions.

Most were directed at executive director

Sherri Mixon, who was born and raised

in Ideal. It’s where she is, without ques-

tion, a voice of authority, regarded as

a repository of important knowledge,

drive and information. What did she

know about the shots? What did she

think of the shots? How could they get

Health

sherrI mIxon

at the food

pantry she

manages

In dallas,

on feb. 13

photographs

by zerb mellIsh

for tIme

WHY THE COVETED SHOTS ARE NOT

REACHING PLACES HIT HARDEST BY COVID-19

BY JANELL ROSS/DALLAS

t h e

vaccine

gap