Protecting Polk Families

The Current Landscape

Polk County faces a unique public health bottleneck as we work on bridging the trust gap in our community. Currently, only 83% of kindergarteners are up-to-date on their vaccinations (down 0.9% from 2024), while 14.39% have received nonmedical exemptions (up 0.1% from 2024)—the highest rate in North Carolina. These growing religious exemptions indicate a cultural shift, not just an administrative barrier. This vulnerability is further compounded by the fact that there is only 1 VFC provider currently serving the entire county. To address logistical hurdles like scheduling and deeper cultural challenges, our intervention strategy focuses on equipping local, trusted messengers with culturally relevant communication tools. The intended result is to rebuild community relationships that reduce vaccine hesitancy at the neighborhood level, expanding our network and vitally safeguarding our children.