FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Pamela Martin Turner, President and Chief Executive Officer at 313-872.7831, or Monica Edmonds, Vice President of Community Engagement and Planning at 313.462.4300.
Vanguard Community Development Corporation to Give Away PPE to 1000 North End Residents
Detroit, MI, April 27, 2020-Vanguard Community Development Corporation (VCDC) is giving away over 1000 masks and gloves to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the North End community.
The not-for-profit organization has served Detroit’s historic North End for 25 years, recognizing the needs of the community long before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The coronavirus has unveiled to the world the systemic and structural racism that has long been a part of American society,” said Pamela Martin-Turner, president and chief executive officer of Vanguard. “Inequities in housing, access to health care, jobs, and transportation underlay the glaring disparities in COVID-19 impact on black and brown people. African American and LatinX people are infected and die at higher rates from COVID-19 than their white counterparts because of these inequities.”
Vanguard’s mission includes addressing racial equity and social justice through community engagement, educational programming, housing and economic development. “Vanguard is working hard to help our community to stay safe and to survive this pandemic,” Turner continued. “This personal protection equipment will shield the essential workers that live in our community, as well as enable our most vulnerable seniors to protect themselves. We will come out better and stronger as we work together to fight COVID-19.”
This Tuesday, April 28, Vanguard will begin door-to-door distribution of disposable masks, gloves and hand sanitizer to families and children, starting on Melrose Street. The organization will also provide educational workshops via Zoom on financial literacy and end of life planning.
“The shelves were empty long before Governor Whitmer declared a state of emergency in Michigan,” said Monica Edmonds, Vanguard’s vice president of community engagement. “We knew that our residents, many without transportation who rely on the local stores for essential goods, didn’t stand a chance of getting sanitizer, toilet paper or masks. With the demand for PPE, and very few resources in our community, Vanguard, along with our community partners, began ordering supplies and identifying the safest ways to distribute.”
Vanguard is supported through grants from generous foundations such as the Kresge Foundation, Ballmer Group and DTE Foundation. Vanguard secured donations of PPE from the Bio Med Pharmacy, located in Southfield, MI. If you are interested in sponsoring PPE for
Vanguard Community Development Corporation | 2795 East Grand Boulevard, Detroit, MI 48211-2003 | Phone: (313) 872-7831 https://www.vanguarddetroit.org
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