Tell Us USA | Published October 8, 2021

A recent report by The Brookings Institution, Examining and Addressing COVID-19 Racial Disparities in Detroit, addressed how poverty, household issues and evictions, and access to healthcare disproportionately affect the health outcomes of Blacks in Detroit.

The program will aim to boost COVID-19 vaccine confidence among African-American Men who have sex with Men, Persons Who Inject Drugs and transgender individuals

DETROIT – The Community Health Awareness Group (CHAG) today announced it has received a $1 million one-year grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to boost COVID-19 vaccine confidence and increase vaccination rates in local underserved communities. The grant will support a COVID-19 vaccine access program specifically designed to bridge the vaccine hesitancy gap among underserved populations in Detroit, including but not limited to those who are medically vulnerable, poor, lack access to medical services, African American Men who have Sex with Men (MSM), Persons Who Inject Drugs (PWID) and transgender individuals. The announcement was made today by Cindy Bolden Calhoun, CHAG Executive Director and CFO.

The City of Detroit has been described as an island of vaccine hesitancy. While 54 percent of Michigan residents received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by July 30, only 33 percent of those in Detroit had received the first vaccine dose according to the Michigan COVID-19 dashboard. In April 2020, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer established the Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities when African Americans represented nearly 14 percent of the state’s population, yet they represented 40 percent of the deaths from COVID-19.

A recent report by The Brookings Institution, Examining and Addressing COVID-19 Racial Disparities in Detroit, addressed how poverty, household issues and evictions, and access to healthcare disproportionately affect the health outcomes of Blacks in Detroit.

The Community Health Awareness Group will include bi-monthly pop-up clinics in areas of Detroit where there are few resources, but where the target population is found.

“This funding will allow us to mobilize community advocates and health workers, along with our trained clinical staff who have become a trusted voice in our community, to tackle vaccine hesitancy and do our part to fight this pandemic,” said Bolden Calhoun. “At a time when the Delta variant has continued to spread at an alarming rate nationwide, our outreach efforts will directly benefit those in the community who are typically at greater risk for COVID-19 infection, serious illness and even death.”

According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), roughly 0.4 percent of Detroit’s population is Young Black MSM (YBMSM) (4 in 1,000), but in 2017, 38 percent of new HIV diagnoses were among YBMSM. New HIV infections continue to be predominantly men who have sex with men (MSM), black persons, and persons aged 20-29 at the time of HIV diagnosis.

MDHHS records show that STD diagnosis in Detroit far surpasses statewide numbers: chlamydia infection in Detroit is 1,663.36 per 100,000, more than triple the state rate; gonorrhea infection is nearly five times higher in Detroit at 870.86 per 100,000; and the rate of primary and secondary syphilis in Detroit is 37.46 per 100,000; nearly five and a half times higher than the state rate.

Detroit is the second poorest big city in the nation with a poverty rate nearly three times the national average— roughly 35 percent with a child poverty rate more than 50 percent. Before the pandemic, the city’s unemployment rate was 9.8 percent. Four in 10 working Detroiters remained laid-off, according to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics with a jobless rate of 39.2 percent.

“Due to the target population’s high level of distrust for the medical establishment, and their willingness to engage with CHAG’s reflective staff, we will utilize a mobile medical clinic where clients can receive the vaccination when they are ready. The project also will include bi-monthly pop-up clinics in areas of Detroit where there are few resources, but where the target population is found,” said Bolden Calhoun.

CHAG has a 35-year history of effectively reaching “hidden populations” by going to where clients are and linking them to testing, treatment and care. CHAG will use the HRSA grant funding to adapt three of its most successful CDC evidence-based interventions which rely on mobilizing Community Advocates (CA), and Community Health Workers (CHW) – PROMISE (Peers Reaching Out and Modeling Intervention Strategies) a community level intervention, Anti-Retroviral Treatment and Access to Services (ARTAS) and the Social Network Strategy (SNS).

Comprehensive outreach funded by the HRSA grant will be launched to reach individuals where they are and via the most effective communication methods, including community engagement and advocacy; social media where role model stories can be shared on TikTok and YouTube; educational messaging shared through community partners, social media platforms and traditional news media.

CHAG is a recognized leader in reaching high-risk communities through culturally appropriate and ethnically sensitive means. It was the first organization in Detroit to develop and implement an alternative source of AIDS education and information within the African-American community. The nonprofit ensures materials are linguistically and educationally appropriate; utilizes interventions proven effective with poor, inner-city, substance-using African-Americans; and goes to where clients are to link them services. CHAG’s wraparound services are designed to promote and implement positive health strategies to influence the overall quality of life of the African-American community.

In addition to the COVID-19 vaccine access project funded by HRSA, CHAG also offers:

• Free integrated communicable disease testing and treatment, including HIV, STIs and viral hepatitis
• Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) appointments for persons at-risk for HIV, including HIV/STD testing, physician visit and a prescription for PrEP Services include insurance enrollment, and linkage to other HIV prevention services.
• Life Points Harm Reduction Outreach Program which provides clean sterile syringes, condoms, cookers, cotton, bleach, and other risk reduction supplies; wound care training and supplies; overdose prevention education and training; and a mobile unit traveling to clients in their own neighborhoods
• Peer-led support group for HIV positive individuals, their family and friends
• Targeted prevention interventions
• Care coordination facilitated by the Early Intervention Services (EIS)/Case Management Team
• Transportation to and from medical appointments for HIV positive individuals
• Tobacco cessation
• Free NARCAN kits and training

For more information about CHAG, including its COVID-19 vaccine access program, please call 313-963-3434 or visit www.chagdetroit.org.