Walk up/Drive thru Mobile Testing Site at SAY Detroit Family Health Clinic

On its opening day 100 tests were performed at the mobile testing site at the SAY Family Health Clinic (SAY.) This number spoke to the need for a testing center in Highland Park and also to the collaborative efforts involved in opening this unique site.

• Funding was provided by Mitch Albom and SAY Detroit Family Clinic
• Parker Village and Soulardarity identified the need for a walk-up testing (many residents do not have cars) site that did not require a prescription or health insurance and also publicized the opening
• Detroit Rescue Missions Ministry provided the space and the security
• Trinity Health provided the staff
• Richard Keidan/D2N set up the facility and established protocol with guidance from MHP and secured all test kits and lab testing

HPC3 - Highland Park Community Crisis Coalition

The creation of the Highland Park Community Crisis Coalition (HPC3), a collaborative effort designed by four grass roots organizations with whom D2N had been working – Avalon Village, Buckets of Rain, Parker Village, and Soulardarity. HPC3 continues to be a one-stop source for information and services. Residents of Highland Park can call, text or email HPC3 to be connected to the appropriate organization to meet their needs. Resources include:

• Monthly newsletter mailed to all residents of Highland Park with information about the COVID-19 crisis and available resources. This is a critical part of the collective effort – those with the most need are generally the least connected to the city’s social networks and civic organizations.
• Food, including fresh vegetables from the Parker Village gardens, personal supplies and water or filters for 800-900 seniors as well other residents of Highland Park.
• Mental health counseling
• Energy Utility Assistance Fund that supplies small grants to households in need
• Infrastructure for the day-to-day operations of HPC3
• A mask creation/distribution cooperative

In July 2020, recognizing the strength of the HPC3 collaboration, the Highland Park City Council voted unanimously to establish a COVID-19 Just Recovery Task Force.

Reporting for Planet Detroit, Jena Brooker wrote "This task force is about the community coming together to get through this crisis, but also to look forward," said City Council President of Highland Park Carlton Clyburn in a press release.

The task force will be a joint effort between the City Council and the grassroots-led Highland Park Community Crisis Coalition. The task force's goals are to coordinate relief and community safety efforts and develop a long term plan to respond to COVID-19 using the framework of a "just recovery." Read More

Continuing to advocate for Highland Park, HPC3 shepherded the process that culminated in being selected in April 2022 as one of 22 U.S. cities for a federal program supporting community-based clean energy.

Vounteers for Buckets of Rain

Buckets of Rain (BoR) was an urban garden in Highland Park that provides vegetables for several homeless shelters, for the surrounding community and for the free prescriptions for vegetables at the Say Detroit Family Health Clinic. BoR depended on volunteers to weed and plant.

During the stay at home order in March 2020 the regular source of volunteers was no longer viable. D2N put out a call for volunteers and those that responded provided the vast majority of BoR's volunteers during April and May. These volunteers continued to work in the gardens through the end of the growing season.

Building Better Men's COVID-19 Program

• Virtual education and mentorship in the form of a new educational book every two weeks and regular virtual meetings to discuss the books.
• Individual mental health counseling that addressed the stresses young men and their families face during the pandemic.
• Continual food security for the young men and their families
• Virtual physical fitness classes