CMF members Ballmer Group, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, The Kresge Foundation and The Children’s Foundation partnered to award $4.5 million to Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) to support the launch of 12 health hubs over the next three to four years.

According to a press release, the DPSCD health hubs will expand basic support available to students and families by providing comprehensive services at select schools that have existing school-based health centers or clinics, ensuring that students and families are able to access services right in the neighborhoods where they live.

Each of the health hubs will co-locate resources that serve the needs of the whole child and whole family, providing additional wrap around support in addition to the school-based health centers or clinics at each site.

Hubs also co-locate afterschool programs, basic needs resources, parent and caregiver engagement and services, and other resources ranging from legal aid to housing counseling. Health hubs build on the nationally recognized and evidence-based community schools model, which centers schools as places where students and families can experience opportunity and growth in learning, health and economic stability.

Ballmer Group’s funding supports a full-time coordinator position servicing the health hub location, who will provide case management, referral and navigation services to students, families and neighbors to facilitate access to critical services. Coordinators will also be responsible for enhancing each school site’s connectivity with the broader community around it.

“Ballmer Group’s investment in DPSCD’s health hubs reflects our commitment to support the well-being of Detroit students and their families,” Kylee Mitchell Wells, executive director of Ballmer Group-Southeast Michigan. “We believe that it is critical to ensure that our schools are a hub for resources and can expand access to services that our children and families need to advance their health, education and economic mobility.”

Kresge’s funding will support for the 12 neighborhood health hubs and will establish a demonstration site at The School at Marygrove for an enhanced health hub.

The hub will provide additional district and external partner services, such as before-school care, a Family Resource Center that will provide basic needs resources and establish a neighborhood hub for afterschool and enrichment programs.

As CMF reported, The School at Marygrove and the entire P-20 campus is the result of a landmark partnership between The Kresge Foundation, the Marygrove Conservancy, the University of Michigan School of Education, DPSCD, Starfish Family Services and IFF.

“Kresge is proud to support this effort as a part of our commitment to ensure that Detroit’s neighborhoods center the priorities of children and families,” Wendy Lewis Jackson, managing director of Kresge’s Detroit Program and CMF trustee, said. “Schools are hubs of their neighborhoods and health hubs will further ensure that these neighborhood school anchors provide a foundation of health and stability for our city’s children and families.”

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s funding will specifically support oral health services at health hubs and launch a districtwide oral health clinic in northwest Detroit.

“The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is committed to ensuring that Detroit is a city that puts its children and families first,” Faye Alexander Nelson, Michigan director for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and CMF trustee, said. “We are proud to support the oral health components of DPSCD’s health hubs initiative, recognizing the critical importance of oral health screenings and treatment for a child’s overall health and their ability to attend and focus on learning in school.”

Children’s Foundation funding will support the development of a health hub at Central High School, as well as school nurses at five DPSCD schools, including two health hub locations: Central High School and Osborn High School.

“A recently established $10.5 million endowment funded by a DPSCD graduate enabled our support of this initiative,” Andrew Stein, president & CEO at The Children’s Foundation. “We know from compelling data that school nurses help improve students’ physical and mental health, as well as reduce chronic absenteeism. The Children’s Foundation is proud to be part of this effort that will remove barriers to care for so many kids in our community.”

Over the next several months, DPSCD will engage with each of the 12 schools to identify the services that are prioritized by students and families. 

Want more?

Read the full press release.