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Detroit Area Covenant Churches Join to Launch Care Center
DETROIT, MI (January 15, 2001) - Jesus used his ability to heal the sick as a way to bring others to Him. Three Michigan Covenant churches have combined resources to reach out to those in need of medical assistance and healing in Detroit.
A medical clinic called Covenant Community Care has been registered as a charitable nonprofit organization, according to Bob Hoey, pastor at Messiah Church in Detroit. Dr. Kathy Kleinert, a member of Faith Covenant Church in Farmington Hills, is already seeing some 30 patients off site. Her congregation and Dearborn Evangelical Covenant Church have committed other resources along with Messiah Church to help the care center operate.
Kleinert is one of a three-person panel that will explore the topic Connecting Faith and Health in Covenant Congregations as part of a weekend conference January 27-28 at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare in Rosemont, Illinois. The conference will be held just prior to the Midwinter Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church January 29 to February 2 at the same hotel.
Closures of several area hospitals and clinics have made it more difficult for the poor to find adequate medical care near Messiah Church, prompting Hoey and Kleinert to pursue the project. "Southwest Detroit, where our church is, has become a vibrant community," Hoey said. "New homes are being built in our neighborhood for the first time in 50 years and old apartment buildings are being refurbished. But, our two local health clinics are so filled they can't take another patient."
According to Hoey, Covenant Community Care hopes to charge only $10 for regular medical visits and offer dental care and some pharmaceutical services for those with no medical insurance working in low-paying jobs. "People don't want a handout - what they want is health care they can afford," he said. "Many companies offer health insurance, but many people won't take it because it takes so much out of their pockets."
Kleinert has already provided medical assistance through her own suburban private practice. A Faith Covenant Church parishioner provided free legal assistance to assist with organization of a board and investigation of a potential site. Kleinert said a modular site could be readied within a
few weeks for about $150,000. She hopes that funding can be secured in time to open the clinic this spring. She estimates the facility could serve 600 to 800 people monthly with a full-time doctor and volunteers.
"When people have physical problems, it's very hard for them to listen to a spiritual message," said Kleinert. "As our culture continues to break apart, people are looking for someone to bring them a sense of community, and a lot of doctors aren't doing that. We want this to be a safe place where they know someone is going to listen to them."
"It's been nice to do something cooperative with the other Covenant congregations," said Hoey. "Each congregation is very different from each other, but they have worked together and it's been a blast. A really good working board has been developed, not only from these three congregations, but also from individuals in the community. And a good business plan has been developed and a lot of contacts have been made.
"The driving force behind the clinic will be health care professionals that are volunteering their time," Hoey continued. "We're expecting a positive response from local physicians and nurses who will do this as a mission. It's definitely going to be a clinic where people are cared for in Jesus' name."
For more information about Covenant Community Care, contact Kleinert by telephone at 248-477-2600 or by email at kmomdo@aol.com. Registration information about the Faith and Health Conference may be obtained by contacting Mary Chase-Ziolek, director of health ministry programs at North Park Theological Seminary, by telephone at 773-244-6201 or by email at mchase-ziolek@northpark.edu.
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