Islamic Center of Detroit Emergency Covid-19 Relief Program

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the United States, the State of Michigan, and more specifically the City of Detroit, were deemed a hot spot within our nation. Michigan is now 7th in the U.S. for spread and mortality of the Covid-19 virus, only after a Governor mandated stay at home order and other measures were taken to “flatten the curve.” (Johns Hopkins 2020) The spread has doubled daily and is highest in areas where low poverty is present; especially downtown Detroit, with over half of the statewide deaths having occurred in Wayne County and one third of those within the City of Detroit. (2020) Additionally, since the closing of schools due to the spread and mandated stay at home order, the Islamic Center of Detroit (ICD) has seen a dramatic increase in food insecurity and mental health issues, especially amongst Detroit area students.
Since the onset of Covid-19 in southeast Michigan, ICD has served 5,000 daily meals (breakfast and lunch), and over 2,500 individuals with food from our food pantry each week, free of charge. Meals are normally funded through the State of Michigan for 500 students; however, due to increased need and demand, as well as soaring unemployment, we are now serving over 5,000 individuals each day. Additionally, the average donation received for the food pantry is usually only enough for 450 individuals; however, demand has reached over 2,500 individuals each week. Finally, mental health issues/requests for help have increased three-fold recently among our constituency.
Through the ICD Covid-19 Emergency Relief Program, we will continue to: 1.) Provide food for daily meal preparation for 5,000 individuals (breakfast and lunch); 2.) Provide food pantry items for 2,500 individuals each week, including: rice, sugar, salt, canned goods, vegetables, fruits, bread, beans, and pasta. 3.) Provide mental health consultations (by way of Zoom and/or connections to other mental health experts) for 2,000 individuals on a weekly basis. Staff and volunteers have been trained on health and safety precautions concerning food preparation and distribution, via CDC guidelines. Each person preparing, packing, and distributing the food boxes wears gloves, masks, and take every necessary precaution to stay safe and mind the safety of others. Additionally, ICD has a LSW to provide mental health consultations, as well as partnering with other licensed mental health providers in metro Detroit for referral.
This program is important, as it specifically provides critical needs for the impoverished, vulnerable, elderly, disabled, and other children, families, and individuals that are in need, residing in our geographic focus area of Southeast Michigan. On average, “Detroit (zip 48228) has an unemployment rate of 11.6%. The US average is 5.2%. Detroit (zip 48228) has seen the job market increase by 1.2% over the last year. Future job growth over the next ten years is predicted to be 30.9%, which is lower than the US average of 38.0%.” (“Michigan Economy” 2018) These numbers have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, according to CBS Detroit, “Michigan ranked 8th out of the states” with the highest growth in unemployment due to Covid-19. (2020) Since ICD is located in the most impoverished area of metro Detroit (48228), it is imperative that we are able to reach low and no income individuals that are highly impacted by this crisis, fulfilling basic needs such as food insecurity in an innovative and grass roots capacity.
The program is being marketed on all social media sites, as well as partner sites throughout metro Detroit. Additionally, people are referred to our food pantry through other partner agencies. Regular donations have been secured to continue to meet the increasing need for meals and food pantry items each week. Some of these additional committed donors include: United Way of Southeastern Michigan, Islamic Relief, and the Delta Dental Foundation. This has been significant in closing the food security gap that exists in our impoverished community.