While these were small moments in my overall DCERP experience, I really enjoyed seeing DCERP placement representatives in my virtual meetings through HOPE Village Revitalization (HVR)!
One of HVR’s community initiatives is to provide sustainable, renewable energy and housing resources. Thus, I have been sitting in on a few meetings and webinars with EcoWorks and it has been great to see Allison Harris (one of the program coordinators) every few weeks to talk about her soil project. It has also been wonderful to see Saida and Sarah at a few of the webinars! These meetings have been a nice way to see DCERP fellows outside of our weekly meetings and see the projects they have been working on.
Another one of HVR’s community initiatives is to make living healthy lifestyles easy, which is my main focus of research this summer. Outside of the fresh local food systems and Farmers Market, I have been working with HVR to find ways to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in the neighborhood. We’ve been working a lot with Authority Health to coordinate testing sites, and I have been seeing Carolyn Custer every now and then in our weekly meetings. It’s nice to see a familiar face and her work in action!
One bonus experience for me is seeing the collaboration between HVR and Joy Southfield CDC, another non-profit organization in Detroit. My student org on campus, GlobeMed at UMich, partners with Joy Southfield and it has been a treat for me to see them outside of our fundraising events! HVR and Joy Southfield are creating a Detroit community health worker program together along with other Detroit non-profits, and this experience has shed new light on a different side of my student org’s partnership with Joy Southfield.
