Overview: The Flint water crisis continues to expose communities in Flint, MI to harmful levels of lead, forcing Flint residents to be deprived of clean and safe drinking water. Despite public health efforts, financial burden and access to transportation remain prominent barriers to accessing bottled water. Join us to distribute cases of bottled water to some of Flint’s most vulnerable residents at housing complexes for low-income seniors and people with disabilities. This service event will provide you with an on-the-ground perspective of the Flint water crisis, allow meaningful interactions with community members, and begin to connect themes of racism and health inequity to a real-world problem in Southeast Michigan. The community partners for this service event are water crisis first responders Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church and Salem Lutheran Church.
Timing: Carpools will be arranged. Meet in SPH I lobby at 8:30 am for carpools to Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church (502 Leith St, Flint, MI 48505). Once we arrive on site, we will proceed with introductions and learning about the water crisis response/recovery context before traveling to water distribution sites.
Volunteer activity is from 10:00 am - 3:00 pm (Please note: 8:30 am - 4:00 pm time listed above allows for travel time to and from the site.) Lunch is provided. Refillable water bottles are encouraged.
Dress code: Comfortable, casual clothing. We recommend volunteers dress in layers to be comfortable inside and outside for the duration of the day.
For questions, please contact Student Site Leads: Brian Cunningham-Rhoads (bcrhoads@umich.edu) and Jasdeep Kler (jkler@umich.edu).
Family: To register any family members who are interested in joining you at your Service Day site, please email Whitney Vojtkofsky (whitdix@umich.edu).
School of Public Health Alumni:
If you are interested in participating in Service Day this year, we would love to have you join us! If you have an active ‘@umich’ email address, you can register using that email. If you do not, please email Whitney Vojtkofsky (whitdix@umich.edu) with the name of the site where you would like to volunteer, as well as any dietary restrictions or allergies you’d like us to be aware of.
*Please note: this service project is part of a two-day event:
*The March 21 session compliments the March 28 Service Day project. It is not required, but strongly encouraged to participate in both events. If interested in the March 21 session, please mark your calendars and more details and registration for the session will be available within the coming weeks. Lunch will be provided at both events.
1) Saturday, March 21 -- day of speakers and facilitated discussion at the University of Michigan. The purpose of this session is to gain a deeper understanding of cultural humility, health disparities, and racial inequities within a local and national context pertaining to public health, and begin to connect these discussion concepts to communities within SE Michigan.
2) Saturday, March 28 -- The Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church & Salem Lutheran Church Water Distribution service project as part of the School of Public Health's annual Service Day.