The Skillman Foundation

By removing barriers to basic needs, Detroit Public Schools Community District is proving that when schools serve the whole family, students thrive.

When Maria walked into East English Village Preparatory Academy at Finney High School last fall, she was not just looking for academic support. She was looking for help keeping her family afloat. Her electricity bill was overdue, her son needed glasses so he could see what the teacher was referencing on the screen at the front of the class, and she had been putting off her own dental care for months because she could not afford it. She had heard from a neighbor that the school had resources, but she was not sure where to start.

Within an hour of meeting with the school’s Health Hub Navigator, Maria had an appointment scheduled at the school-based health center for her son’s vision screening, a referral to utility assistance programs, and information about free tax preparation services that could help her access hundreds of dollars in tax credits. Two weeks later, her son had new glasses. A month after that, her electricity stayed on.

“I did not know the school could help with all of this,” Maria said. “I thought schools were just for learning. But they helped my whole family.”

Maria’s experience reflects a fundamental shift happening across Detroit Public Schools Community District. Academic success does not happen in isolation from the challenges families face every day. Through its Health Hubs initiative, DPSCD is recentering neighborhood schools as anchors for their communities, providing one-stop access to the resources families need to achieve health and economic stability.

From pilot to system-wide infrastructure

With support from a coalition of philanthropic partners, including Ballmer Group and others, DPSCD launched the Health Hubs initiative in 2023 with five pilot schools: Denby High School, Western International High School, Central High School, Southeastern High School, and East English Village Preparatory Academy at Finney High School. The model was straightforward but transformative. The district would:

• Place dedicated Health Hub Navigators in schools, who directly interact with families to better understand the root issues they are facing and connect them directly with relevant resources.
• Strengthen and expand school-based health centers that provide both physical and behavioral health services.
• Expand Family Resource Distribution Centers where families can access food, hygiene supplies and school materials, all under one roof.

The pilot’s success was immediate and measurable. Families who had been navigating disconnected systems, calling multiple agencies and repeating their stories, often falling through the cracks, suddenly had a single point of contact who could walk alongside them. Students who had been missing school because they could not see the board, because their family was facing an eviction crisis, or because they did not have reliable access to food began showing up more consistently.

Today, Health Hubs operate at 9 DPSCD neighborhood high schools, as well as The School at Marygrove, serving not only high school students but all students and families living in surrounding neighborhoods. What began as a pilot has become core infrastructure, a system-wide commitment to addressing the barriers that prevent students from attending and thriving in school.

For DPSCD’s partners, that kind of scaling is exactly what Detroit needs. The strategy focuses on building long-term neighborhood infrastructure that can serve as a proof point for child- and family-centered neighborhoods, health equity and environmental justice, and movement-building that is rooted in local leadership.

Recognizing schools as community anchors

The Health Hubs model builds on a long tradition in Detroit: neighborhood schools as trusted community institutions. For generations, Detroit families have turned to their local schools not just for education, but as places that understand their needs and respond without judgement.

“Health Hubs remind us of the legacy and significance of Detroit’s neighborhood schools,” explains Alycia Meriweather, DPSCD’s Deputy Superintendent of Partnerships and Innovation. “If families need something, someone at their neighborhood school will help them.”

This approach recognizes what educators and families have consistently shared: students cannot focus on learning when they are navigating the stress of economic instability. Academic outcomes are linked to the conditions in which children and families live.

By positioning schools as community anchors that serve the whole child and whole family, Health Hubs address root causes rather than symptoms. They acknowledge that challenges outside school such as housing instability, lack of access to health care, food insecurity and utility shutoffs create barriers to consistent attendance and academic success.

One-stop navigation: How Health Hubs work

At the heart of each Health Hub is a Health Hub Navigator, a dedicated staff member who provides case management support and serves as a trusted guide for families navigating complex systems. Navigators do not just hand families a list of phone numbers. They make warm handoffs to community partners, follow up to ensure families receive services, and coordinate across multiple providers to address interconnected needs.

When a student or family member walks into a Health Hub, they might access:

School-based health centers. Comprehensive physical, behavioral, oral and vision health services are available in the school building. Students can receive routine checkups, behavioral health support, dental screenings and vision exams without missing significant class time or requiring parents to take time off work for appointments across the city.

Basic needs navigation. Health Hub Navigators connect families to utility assistance programs, tax preparation services that help families access earned income tax credits and other benefits, legal aid and immigration support, and housing and eviction defense services. These are not referrals into the void. Navigators follow up to ensure families successfully access services.

Family Resource Distribution Centers. Families can access shelf-stable food, hygiene supplies, school supplies and other essentials on-site. They can pick up what they need without navigating multiple agencies or food pantries across the city., and can also access Parent Outreach Coordinators who can assist with access to a range of resources.

The power of the model is its integration. A student who comes in for a vision screening might mention that the family is behind on utility bills. The Health Hub Navigator can address both needs in a single visit, scheduling the vision appointment and connecting the family to utility assistance, while the student remains in school and the parent avoids taking multiple days off work.

This integrated model reflects what Detroiters have voiced across many years: families want simple, connected pathways to support rather than navigating fragmented systems on their own.

The impact: Removing barriers, improving outcomes

Since launching in 2023, DPSCD’s Health Hubs have served thousands of families. In a little over a year, almost 10,000 families had used the hubs, more than 800 children had received prescription eyeglasses, and hundreds of referrals had been made for additional services.

While the full data set is still emerging, early results show that schools benefiting from robust attendance and whole-child supports are helping drive districtwide progress on chronic absenteeism. 14 of the 15 Michigan schools with the biggest drops in chronic absenteeism since before the pandemic are in DPSCD, a sign that the district’s wraparound strategies are beginning to pay off.

Through Health Hubs, in the 2024-2025 school year, 1,154 Detroit students received glasses, and almost 300 received dental services through Health Hub sponsored events. Each data point represents a barrier removed: a student who can now see their teacher’s instructions, a child whose toothache no longer prevents them from concentrating, a young person who received behavioral health support that helped them navigate challenges and stay engaged in school.

The model also transforms how families experience support systems. Instead of navigating a maze of disconnected agencies, each with different intake processes, eligibility requirements and service hours, families have a single point of contact who knows them, understands their needs and can coordinate across multiple providers. This “no wrong door” approach reduces the burden on families and ensures that fewer people fall through the cracks.

From school resource to community lifeline

The success of Health Hubs in serving DPSCD students and families has revealed their potential to serve an even broader purpose: acting as emergency hubs for entire communities during times of crisis.

That potential is being activated now. Child poverty in Detroit has risen above 50 percent for the first time in nearly a decade, meaning more than half of Detroit’s children are living in households struggling to meet basic needs. In recent years, the end of pandemic-era supports has meant fewer federal dollars for food and housing relief, creating immediate insecurity for households already operating on thin margins.

In response, DPSCD is expanding Health Hubs’ reach beyond students and their immediate families to serve entire neighborhoods. During the upcoming holiday break, Health Hubs will provide communitywide access to food and resources, including extended hours after school and on weekends. This expansion is supported through partnership with The Kresge Foundation and The Skillman Foundation, reflecting a shared commitment to ensuring that families have access to the resources they need during a time of acute crisis.

“Public schools are the hub of community. Health Hubs are the latest example, offering essential resources to support family health and stability,” says Angelique Power, President & CEO of The Skillman Foundation. “This community-led model is helping entire neighborhoods stay connected to the resources that support health, learning, and long-term well-being.”

Residents can find information about extended community hours and services at DPSCD’s Health Hubs below, and at www.detroitk12.org/healthhubs. These extended community hours will begin during the upcoming holiday break, ensuring that the broader community can access food through DPSCD’s Health Hubs. Community members can visit Health Hubs at Central High School, Denby High School, East English Village Preparatory Academy at Finney, Mumford High School and Western High School during the following hours:

• Monday, December 22 (9am-4pm)
• Tuesday, December 23 (9am-4pm)
• Wednesday, December 24 (10am-2pm)
• Monday, December 29 (9am-4pm)
• Tuesday, December 30  (9am-4pm)
• Friday, January 2  (9am-4pm)

A model for child- and family-centered cities

DPSCD’s Health Hubs offer important lessons for cities working to strengthen the conditions for student success. Families across the country face similar pressures, and Detroit’s Health Hub model demonstrates what becomes possible when schools, community partners, and philanthropy work together to remove barriers to learning. 

• Meet families where they are. Schools are trusted institutions that families already interact with regularly. By embedding comprehensive services in schools, Health Hubs eliminate barriers of transportation, time and trust that often prevent families from accessing support.
• Coordinate, not duplicate. Health Hubs do not try to provide every service directly. Instead, they create a coordinated system where Navigators connect families to existing community resources through warm handoffs and follow-up support.
• Address root causes, not just symptoms. Academic interventions alone cannot overcome the barriers created by poverty, housing instability and lack of access to health care. Health Hubs recognize that supporting student success requires addressing the conditions in which families live.
• Build infrastructure that can scale. What works in one school can work across a district, and can even expand to serve broader community needs during times of crisis. By creating replicable systems and dedicated staff roles, DPSCD has built infrastructure that can grow and adapt.
• Trust families to know what they need. Health Hubs do not prescribe solutions. They ask families what challenges they are facing and work alongside them to address those challenges.

“Health Hubs exemplify the kind of integrated, community-centered approach that are essential for creating opportunity and advancing equity in Detroit,” explains Wendy Lewis Jackson, Managing Director for Kresge’s Detroit Program. “By removing barriers to basic needs, supporting family economic stability and ensuring that students can focus on learning, Health Hubs are helping create conditions in which Detroit children can succeed.”

Looking forward: Schools as anchors for thriving neighborhoods

As Health Hubs expand their reach and deepen their impact, they offer a vision of what becomes possible when we reimagine the role of schools in communities. Neighborhood schools can be more than places where children go to learn. They can be anchors that support entire families, hubs that coordinate community resources, and safety nets that catch families during times of crisis.

“Detroit offers many resources for families, but accessing the support they need can be overwhelming and time-consuming,” said Jessica Eiland Anders, Senior Portfolio Manager for Ballmer Group Southeast Michigan. “Health Hubs make that easier, helping children and families focus more on academic success instead of navigating a complicated social services system.”

For Maria and thousands of other Detroit families, Health Hubs have transformed what it means to be connected to a neighborhood school. They have removed barriers that once seemed insurmountable, provided support during moments of crisis and created pathways to stability and opportunity.

And for students like Maria’s son, who can now see the board clearly with his new glasses, Health Hubs have done something even more fundamental. They have made it possible to focus on learning, to show up consistently and to imagine a future full of possibility.

That is the promise of Health Hubs, and the promise of a Detroit that truly puts its children and families first.

For more information about DPSCD’s Health Hubs, including locations, services and community access hours, visit www.detroitk12.org/healthhubs. Families seeking support can contact their neighborhood school or visit any Health Hub location during operating hours. Those interested in partnering with DPSCD on its Health Hubs are invited to contact the Detroit Public Schools Foundation for more information.