Rev. Dawnesha Beaver:
“ Part of this work is getting people to be of one accord.”
Dawnesha Beaver works as Program Coordinator for Kedren Vaccines, a division of Kedren Community Health Center through the Bloomberg Foundation with Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science. She is also Executive Minister at New Mt. Calvary Baptist Church of Los Angeles. Her motto is“ Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’ s grace in its various forms”( 1 Peter 4:10).
Dawnesha Beaver
She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from CSULA, a Master’ s degree in urban public health from CDU, and a Master’ s degree in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary with an emphasis in youth, family, and culture. She also is a fellow of the USC Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement.
That message is customized by getting the questions from the people. For example, not too long ago, Dr. Abraham and I participated in a town hall where the questions were provided to us specifically from employers who had a number of questions in which the company was implementing a mandatory vaccination program. They wanted to have a customized and tailored webinar and town hall where the employees can ask the questions that they wanted to ask. They were able to not only submit those questions in advance, but they were also able to ask those questions in real time.
The uniqueness of the approach that we have with this CDU-Kedren partnership is that the person that you see on the screen is also the person that you see in person at the vaccination clinic. That allows for a simultaneous connection, listening what’ s being communicated on the screen and then also what you’ re getting in person. And so it’ s like, well, I saw you and I talked to you on Zoom. Now I actually get to talk to you in person. And I think that is the bridge over troubled water.
If connecting what people see on the screen to what people see on the ground, you know what that reminds me of? It reminds me of when the church was being formed by the apostles and the disciples. One of the convincing messages was that Peter, or Thomas or Thaddeus could point to the fact that the stories they’ re telling about Jesus, were accurate because they were there. And, and that’ s one of the most compelling ways that anyone is going to develop a sense of trust.
I use that analogy because I think we are in a real moment of a crusade. And obviously, what is happening doesn’ t just have implications for COVID. It has implications for building a communication network platform about these related issues that can be built, going forward. And so as whatever next circumstance occurs, there is not the same kind of time lag or trust level or real connection between cause and effect that got us to this point.
It makes perfect sense. This is the reason why I am doing this work. As you know, I am full time ministry executive, at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church. And I actually took a leave from my job, where I’ ve been serving for 10 years at full-time ministry, really, because this is ministry what I’ m doing. I’ m not here because of the job. I’ m out here doing the work of COVID-19, because I’ m called to it.
And also, my background being that I have a Master’ s in Public Health from Drew, I have this unique ability to be able to navigate both a faith-based aspect of this work, but also the public health and the science part of this work. And really, to help people not pit faith against science. But that faith and medicine
CDU College of Medicine | PG. 23