By Versell Smith | Executive Director
When the COVID lockdown began in March, the Corner quickly sprung to action. We implemented telemedicine within two days, reorganized our clinic for safety, and created policies around PPE and social distancing for staff and patients. It soon became apparent, however, that the lockdown was going to last much longer than we anticipated. Thanks to support from the GlobalGiving community and others, we are able to continue providing health care safely to 12- to 25-year-olds (and their children), making sure they do not put off important health visits during the pandemic.
Teens and young adults are just beginning to make independent decisions about their health behaviors, which is why the Corner is an essential resource to keep them on a path to a healthy future. Since the start of the pandemic shut down in March, we have seen 1,157 patients for 4,824 visits. Of these visits, 13% were for mental health therapy; other requested services include contraceptive care, STI testing, prenatal care, immunizations, and well-baby visits. We saw an increase in the number of pregnancies to women under 21, and experienced 31 births compared to 21 births over the same time last year. Young people feel safer coming to the Corner than going into the larger medical facilities.
Our summer outreach and health education programs were well-attended and provided a way for youth to get out of the house and connect. We offered virtual cooking classes with local chefs in partnership with the Ypsilanti Farmers Market, delivering the ingredients and cooking utensils to those who signed up for the programs. We also offered distanced yoga in Riverside Park once per week, providing yoga mats and water bottles.
In September we launched our online mental health series called “So Now What?” to help teens and parents who may be struggling with anxiety and depression. The first program in June, “COVID Happened: So Now What?” was very successful and drew an audience of over 40 youth. The September program, “School is Open: So Now What?” provided a forum for youth to talk about the confusion they are feeling about virtual vs. in person classes. The October program, “Feeling Stuck: So Now What?” will be moderated by Caleb Boswell, Student Advisor at Washtenaw Community College. For more information on these and future programs, or to register, visit www.cornerhealth.org.
We will keep our doors open, we will offer the telemedicine option, and we will create new outreach and education programs so no one has to neglect their healthcare during COVID. Thank you to our GlobalGiving donors for giving our local young people a safe place to take good care of their health.
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
