Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, unique challenges for vulnerable and underserved minority communities in the United States emerged, including greater risk of severe COVID-19 illness,1 disproportionate hospitalizations and deaths,2 limited access to care,3 lack of reliable sources of information regarding risk and preventive behaviors,4 and mistrust of medical providers and COVID-19 messaging.4The impact of COVID-19 and comorbidity disparities on African Americans in the South was particularly evident, with this region having the greatest prevalence of COVID-19 and the highest prevalence of chronic disease.5Compounding these issues was everevolving information from government officials regarding safety measures, leading to miscommunication and decreased trust in government messaging.6 Social media disinformation piggybacked on the confusing information to further sow seeds of distrust in public health recommendations, such as masking, social distancing, and testing.7To address the crisis of inequities in COVID-19, it became clear that models embracing both engagement and action were needed to guide the development of timely, trustworthy messaging to vulnerable communities. A Bidirectional Collaborative Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Response Model (BCRM) emerged from the collaboration of teams in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana that can be used to create culturally sensitive messaging and strategies to address health crises rapidly and effectively in vulnerable communities. Inherent in this model are sustained community-academic partnerships.