Marginalized Women Eligible for Free Health Services from Zaman International
Since its establishment in 2010, Zaman International’s Hope for Humanity Center has supported nearly 500,000 individuals across Southeast Michigan.
The Inkster-based nonprofit is dedicated to helping women and their children escape poverty by offering vocational training and supporting their basic needs. The center’s newly launched Community Health Center is helping people like 60-year-old Marcella Rodriquez-Awad receive essential health services for free. The 60-year-old grandmother of six moved back to Detroit after living in Beirut, Lebanon.
“Thyroid issue that needs check-up every six months… I wasn’t able to get it, but I got it here,” Rodriquez-Awad said.
“We want to make sure that women don’t have any barriers to getting the proper health care that they need,” said Maya Mortada, health services director with Community Health Center, in an interview with WXYZ-TV Detroit. The center offers free educational programs and health services, including trauma counseling, to support marginalized women and their children. Mortada confirmed that grants, private donors, and foundations provide the critical funding the center needs.
Dr. Karen Weaver is one of many volunteers who help support the Community Health Center.
“Opening a health clinic for patients that didn’t have any access really resonated with me. Because it’s a population that doesn’t get health care unless they end up in the emergency room, and that’s not what we want,” Weaver said. “Most of the women we serve are single mothers, living under $12,000 a year.”
While the health center doesn’t provide elective health services, pediatric services, or X-rays, it plans to expand these offerings in the future.
