At sunrise on Monday morning,  I woke up to the texts and posts of my friend, Dr. Luda Khait-Vlisides-- a young, brilliant, powerhouse of compassion working on the frontlines at Detroit's Sinai-Grace Hospital. Her message came after a heartwrenching shift in the emergency room, and expressed the shattering grief that comes with caring for COVID-19 patients who are dying alone in  hospital hallways, frantic and under-staffed.  Luda's sorrow undid me, leaving me with a sense of urgency to do something. <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/47320800_1586610354229244_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" alt="47320800_1586610354229244_r.jpeg" /> This is that small something and I hope you will help. Luda and her medical team at Sinai-Grace Hospital are asking us to help provide tablets to their patients in the ER/ICU COVID-units, allowing them to connect via Skype or Zoom during these final precious and holy moments of their lives. Yesterday we secured a partnership with Comcast, including their initial donation of 30 tablets and their efforts to secure additional supply for us at a significant discount. Given the shortage of devices across the country, Comcast is also working to connect us with local and national vendors committed to helping Detroit's COVID-19 patients die knowing they are loved and that their lives mattered. Our hope in providing free tablets to Sinai-Grace and other Detroit hospitals is three-fold: 1) To help patients in the ER/ICU-COVID units virtually connect to those they love most; 2) To help the separated and brokenhearted families of patients  speak love into the lives of their moms and dads, spouses, brothers, sisters and children at the end of their lives; 3) To help doctors and nurses bridge the gap between their patients and those they call family, decreasing the trauma experienced by everyone in the face of this unimaginable loss. The need is urgent. Our hope is to secure at least 125 tablets within the next 1-2 weeks, before the anticipated peak of the virus in Detroit and Southeast Michigan.  Each donation of $85 will help us buy one tablet that will go directly into the COVID-19 units/tents in Detroit's most over-crowded and under-resourced hospitals, beginning with Sinai-Grace. On the other side of this pandemic, our intention is to re-purpose these same tablets to Detroit public schools students, many whose families are most vulnerable to the impacts of COVID-19. We have already begun to build those bridges in preparation for the day our children return to school. Today, Detroit has a higher death rate than New York City, the epicenter of the outbreak. On any given day, Sinai-Grace Hospital is receiving 60+ COVID-19 patients in their emergency room. Their healthcare workers are under-supported, under-protected, and understandably depleted-- emotionally, mentally and physically. Your donation will give the patients at Sinai-Grace and other Detroit hospitals a final chance to see the faces and hear the voices of those who love them most during the end of their lives. All contributions will go directly to the purchase of tablets that will be delivered straight into the hands of physicians like Luda. Additionally, we are working in partnership with the Medical Director at Sinai-Grace who is assisting us in the distribution of the tablets. <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/47320800_1586610406396173_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" alt="47320800_1586610406396173_r.jpeg" />

Tara Cabelof

Lake Michigan Credit Union

Anonymous

Ellen Kleinelp

Steve & Joelle  Boros Family

Lisa Joseph

Emily Meier

Christine Fakouras

Trish  Heusel

Katy W

Heidi Lyman

Maggie Downs

We See You, Detroit!

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