Last March, the pandemic forced grassroots group Detroit Action to halt a 10-year program helping people who face homelessness or have low incomes to get their vital records. That program ran out of soup kitchens, where it reached people in need, and closed at that time.
More than a year later, the initiative relaunched, reviving a service that Detroit Action which focuses on economic injustices affecting Black and brown Detroiters says can help more than a
dozen people a week navigate the often complicated process of getting IDs and birth certificates.
These vital records are required to access housing and employment.