Health Alliance Plan Donates Another $75K to Detroit Public Schools Community District

This story is from Health Alliance Plan. Read more here. 

Health Alliance Plan (HAP), a Michigan-based nonprofit health plan, and the Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) have deepened their alliance, as HAP announced that for the second year in a row, it has donated $75,000 to DPSCD in support of its program that provides coats and personal care items to any students in the district who need them. This year’s coat drive was held at Mason Academy.

“We are extremely grateful to HAP for their continued support of our children,” said Bishop Corletta Vaughn, DPSCD Board Member. “This type of thoughtful and targeted philanthropy will help us continue to address barriers associated with chronic absenteeism and homeless and marginal populations, these machines will be one more step closer to realizing our whole child commitment.”

This donation comes a year after HAP’s initial donation of $75,000 to the DPSCD Foundation that purchased all-weather coats and personal care items that students “shopped” for at DPSCD schools in March of 2022. The district has since coordinated shopping events throughout the schools to allow parents and families to select coats and other items needed. The program was designed to support approximately 6,000 students and their families by eliminating barriers to attendance and attention while at school and ensuring that students have appropriate personal support items to come to school with confidence.

“We are always working to find ways to support DPSCD in meaningful ways” said Michael Genord M.D., HAP President and CEO. “We listened to DPSCD about their needs, and decided that our contributions will go towards solutions that remove barriers to regular attendance in school, which is critically important to ensuring our kids continue to grow and thrive.”

HAP is also meeting student basic needs in a different way this year, by donating and installing washing machines and dryers in schools. Washers and dryers were installed early this year at three Detroit Schools, including Detroit International Academy (DIA) for Young Women, Mason Academy, and Thirkell Elementary-Middle School. HAP responded to a critical need in the community, as a lack of clean clothing can often be a barrier to regular school attendance. Providing laundry services is an ongoing solution for students who aren’t comfortable attending school in unclean clothes—which can happen because of a lack of family resources. HAP’s latest washer and dryer donation builds on previous efforts to support DPSCD’s goal of increasing attendance, improving educational outcomes, and improving the quality of life for Detroit students.

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