On a cold and snowy Martin Luther King Jr. Day, volunteers gathered at Myrtle Hilliard Davis Comprehensive Health Centers to brave the weather and distribute care packages to those in need. They began at an appropriate location – the health center’s office on Martin Luther King Drive.
The street, named after the civil rights icon in 1972, is located in St. Louis’ 22nd Ward, an area marked by high rates of crime, poverty and homelessness. This is the second year the Myrtle Hilliard Davis location has marked MLK Jr. Day with a “Community Clean-Up” event inviting members of the community to participate.
Volunteers who met at the health center set out in both directions to distribute care packages, including hygiene products, bottled water and blankets. Last year’s weather was better, but the snow was not a deterrent for those who arrived to help.
Several members of Delta Sigma Theta, a sorority with an emphasis on community service in the African-American community, were among the volunteers. Daphne Pointer was one of them.
“This is a day of service, not a day off, so we want to help our community,” Pointer said.
Keely Finney, an employee of Myrtle Hilliard Davis, works in the center’s drug recovery program. She said the snow made MLK Jr. Day atypical for the neighborhood, where the presence of those who are homeless or otherwise in need is usually visible.
“This is not a typical day, but on a typical day, you would see people out here: streetwalkers, prostitutes, drug dealers, all around the neighborhood,” Finney said. “We often go out and give care packages all around the neighborhood, and it’s a great need.”
Deneen Busby, the director of marketing and communications at Myrtle Hilliard Davis, led the event. She said the community cleanup is a continuation of the health centers’ everyday mission.
“We wanted to do it again this year to just bring organizations and the community together,” Busby said. “We have the police here, we have the alderman here. We received support from all kinds of people who donated blankets and stopped in.”
Myrtle Hilliard Davis provides a variety of health services, including family medicine, behavioral care and women’s health services, to neighborhoods in need in the St. Louis area. Patients without health insurance can pay for services on an income-based sliding scale. The center also offers assistance in finding and enrolling in an insurance plan.
Busby said the patients who visit the health center often have other, more immediate needs as well, which Myrtle Hilliard Davis also tries to meet.
“Our patients always come in and ask us for hygiene products, all the time,” Busby said. “There are, unfortunately, people who are always transitioning from one place to another. They don’t really have what we know as a home to go to every day. We just wanted to do something on a day of service that would benefit our community.”
Blankets will be available at Myrtle Hilliard Davis locations throughout the winter months, as well as personal care items all year. Those looking to get involved can donate to the organization’s homeless and uninsured patient fund or find volunteer opportunities at http://mhdchc.org. You can call the center at (314) 367-5820.
