DETROIT COVID-19 WELLNESS OPERATION

With the National Action Network Michigan, the Detroit Benevolent Society launched the COVID-19 wellness operation – a donation-based and volunteer-led project that delivers medication and care packages that include: food, cleaning supplies, and toiletries. The target audiences are senior citizens and immunocompromised residents of Detroit and other low income communities across southeastern Michigan. The organizations mobilized by the DBS have supplied more than 750,000 meals.

COMMUNITY HEALTH NAVIGATOR PROJECT

Our current information network is built around contact lists and social media of the seven COVID19 community testing sites and thirty Benevolent Society Churches. Across these broad based networks there currently are approximately 10,000 individuals. We will leverage interactions driven by ongoing offers of COVID-19 related testing services and general social services (e.g. housing, food, employment assistance) to the broader community to grow our information network. This will include neighborhood outreach by Social Workers who will be hired as part of this project.

A Community Holistic Worker (CHW) will work directly out of the church and in the community, focusing on the immediate needs that participants are facing by providing resource navigation and referrals for participants. The CHW will also provide one-on-one sessions with participants to educate and discuss health-related issues. A health professional will also provide Covid-19 vaccinations directly at the church at least twice a year.

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

This program seeks opportunities that will develop and enhance the workforce with the funding that has been provided for Covid-19 relief by utilizing church kitchens, community members, youth and social workers who can provide social support and access to resources by learning how to produce and deliver meals to its own community. Currently in phase 2 there are workers who have been provided by Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation (DESC). These workers are currently funded by federal and state Covid-19 relief funds.

We are seeking to continue to capitalize on that workforce by growing a full scale meal preparation, packaging and delivery service. That not only will service the need for healthy prepared meals in the respective communities but competitively compete for school breakfast and lunch contracts, jail meals, airline food services, etc. This plan builds sustainability and builds a trained workforce. Phase three will also connect with the Eastern Market food distributors, Malik Yakini (Detroit Black Community Food Security Network), urban farms and gardens, Detroit Food Academy, On the Rise Bakery, Alternative for Girls, and other local food distribution that broadens economic development.