2021-22 Schweitzer Fellows, Guests Celebrate Their Service

By Dennis Archambault

The 2021-22 Albert Schweitzer Fellows concluded their Fellowship year with a Celebration of Service on May 13 at the Detroit Golf Club. The event, underwritten by Black Family Development, honored nine Fellows for their work. Mayor Abdullah Hamoud of Dearborn was the keynote speaker. Mayor Hamoud, who earned a master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Michigan, spoke about his commitment to instituting a health in all policies philosophy in Dearborn and the role of health in public policy.

Schweitzer Fellows are graduate students in the health and human service disciplines who commit to providing at least 200 hours of service to an underserved community or vulnerable population. Their commitment includes creating a sustainable project that will continue after they exit the Fellowship. All the Fellows achieved their service goals and most completed their Fellowship with a sustainable addition to the health care safety net.

Two of the projects had direct interaction with Authority Health. Lianna Foster-Bey, a Wayne State University School of Medicine student, created a harm reduction service focused on needle exchange and basic health services for people experiencing homelessness in Detroit. In the course of her work, she created referral/treatment arrangement with Authority Health and the City of Detroit Health Department for people with syphilis. Additionally, Sumi Dey, M.D., a global health master’s student at the Michigan State University College of Medicine, developed a vaccine hesitancy counseling service at Authority Health’s Popoff Family Health Center.

Graduating Fellows are listed below.

AeYanna Yett, Wayne State University School of Social Work: Therapeutic intervention for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault through horticulture, reading club, and group dynamics.

Alexandra Agapiou, University of Michigan Nursing School: Hypertension and general heart health education for patients in the Hope free clinic.

Amanda Bazzi, University of Michigan School of Public Health: Health insurance navigation and support for low income working population.

Steven Henry, Seton Hall University: Community organization around community health resources and healthy community promotion on the eastside of Detroit.

Ruth Bishop and Sarah Jabour, University of Michigan Medical School (partnership): Therapeutic oral history/resource referral for homeless populations in Detroit and Washtenaw County.

Erika Blaskay, Wayne State University School of Nursing: Address COVID vaccine hesitancy among staff in Detroit nursing homes as an infection control initiative.

Sumi Dey, Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Global Health Masters: Address vaccine hesitancy in a clinic setting to promote COVID and other adult vaccine acceptance.

Lianna Foster-Bey, Wayne State University School of Medicine: Harm reduction public health outreach to homeless people with substance use disorder.

We are grateful to the Metro Health Foundation for its ongoing support of the Fellowship.