22 | MARCH 30 • 2023
OUR COMMUNITY
A
West Bloomfield physician and
mountain climber is aiming to
boost the health of communities
in the city of Detroit by using a model he
developed 13 years ago in Nepal.
Richard Keidan, M.D., a surgical
oncologist with Michigan Healthcare
Professionals, is working with Brilliant
Detroit to hire community health work-
ers. They will be based at some of the
centers the organization runs in neigh-
borhoods across the city.
Brilliant Detroit started in 2015 to
provide a radically different approach
to kindergarten readiness. It operates 18
neighborhood houses, with a goal of hav-
ing 24 by next year. Brilliant Detroit does
not open a home until it is invited in by
a community group, such as a block club.
Originally aimed at providing activities
for young children (“from belly to age 8,”
the organization likes to say), the homes
now offer a variety of programs for chil-
dren up to middle school age.
Co-founded by Carolyn and Jim
Bellinson and Cindy Eggleton, Brilliant
Detroit has served more than 16,000 peo-
ple. More than 500 children have gone
through its programs, said Regina Reid,
programming director.
The goal of the new initiative is to help
neighborhood residents get the healthcare
they need.
Keidan says the reason many Detroiters
have poor healthcare is not because they
lack medical insurance — fewer than
9 percent have no coverage — or even
because physician practices and clinics
are in short supply. But a single mom
holding down a low-paid hourly job and
perhaps also caring for an elderly parent
has scant time to make appointments for
checkups and preventive care at times
when medical offices and clinics are
open. Getting referrals to the right clinic
can be difficult. And even with insurance,
co-pays can be a problem. Hospital emer-
gency departments become the default
health care provider for many city resi-
dents.
Keidan, a longtime member of Temple
Israel, says accessing public programs of
any kind, including healthcare, can be
intimidating. “I was a practicing physi-
cian for 40 years when I applied for Social
Security, and I had to work with a consul-
tant to do it,” he said.
Brilliant Detroit’s community health
workers, who will live in the neighbor-
hoods they serve, will offer health edu-
cation and referrals, informal counseling
and social support and encourage resi-
dents to seek help when needed. Keidan
continued on page 24
BARBARA LEWIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The community health
team at Brilliant Detroit’s
home in the Osborn
neighborhood near
Gratiot and Eight Mile
on Detroit’s east side:
Bottom row: Regina Reid,
programming director;
Sarah Rose Holloway,
project manager. Top row:
Dr. Richard Keidan; Safiya
Blue Jackson, community
health worker.
Healing Neighborhoods
Detroit2Nepal community health model comes home.