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Lucette Mercer, deputy director of Green Rural Redevelopment, Inc. (GRRO), appeared on WIZS Town Talk Monday at 11 a.m.

Mercer announced that free COVID-19 community testing and resource distribution events will be held this week in Vance, Granville and Warren County.

On Wednesday, October 28, 2020, COVID-19 testing will be held from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. at the public parking lot on the corner of Chestnut St. and Breckenridge St. in downtown Henderson.

On Thursday, October 29, testing will be held from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. at the Greater New Hope Baptist Church drive-thru parking lot located at 515 Raleigh Street in Oxford.

Finally, on Friday, October 30, testing will be held from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. at the Warren County Armory Civic Center located at 501 US Highway 158 Business East in Warrenton.

Residents tested at the event will also receive free groceries, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and access to support services. Testing and distributions will be provided through drive-up service, with minimal or no-contact.

These scheduled events are possible through GRRO’s Healing Hearts @ Home Program’s community health initiative partnership with Cardinal Innovations Healthcare, Duke Health, Warren County Public Health, Groundwater Solutions, Inc. (Genesis Project), Warren County and the Warren County Branch of the NAACP.

In Vance County, Mercer said Henderson City Councilmember Marion Brodie Williams has been instrumental in bringing the testing event to fruition.

“Councilmember Brodie Williams has been really helpful with putting the partnership together between Cardinal Innovations Healthcare, GRRO and the Genesis Project 1/Groundwater Solutions, Inc., which is the Charlotte-based organization contracted for doing COVID testing across the state,” said Mercer. “She has been helpful in getting us access to facilities and the cooperation of the City of Henderson, fire and police departments in assisting with managing traffic and getting resources together.”

Remarking on the significance of testing events that also serve as resource distributions, Mercer stated, “The COVID numbers are going up in the state of NC and nationwide. There are serious limitations to the resources that are available to the more rural areas. We really want people to understand how important it is that they are aware of their COVID-19 status and to know that there are support services available to them should they become infected.”

For additional information on GRRO and its mission, please visit www.grronc.org.

To hear the interview in its entirety, go to WIZS.com and click on Town Talk.