May 12, 2025

Focusing on Mother and Infant Health in Advance of Mother’s Day

Just a few days before Mother’s Day, Zaman hosted a communitywide event in support of maternal health care. More than 50 women were able to receive health screenings and access to wellness and community resources as part Zaman’s Mother Infant Health Advancement Day.

“Women are the foundation of a household and they care for their families and their children,” said Maya Mortada, MSN, RN, CPNP-PC, Zaman’s Director of Health Services who oversees Zaman’s Community Health Center. “And if she's not in good health, their family unfortunately will not be in good health. So, today we brought partners together to be a one-stop shop to help these women find the resources they need to help them be in good health.”

Attendees could access numerous free resources ranging from a Henry Ford Health Mammography bus to a mobile health unit from Wayne State University and other local services available to those in poverty.

Faraidon Rahmani, who attended with his wife Shokria and their 16-month-old son, expressed gratitude for the support onsite, as his family is getting acclimated to life in a new country since coming to the U.S. from Afghanistan in June 2024. He’s been supported by Zaman recently and came from Ypsilanti after receiving notice of the event.

“(Zaman) is a good opportunity to participate and learn the culture in the U.S.,” said Rahmani. “Zaman supports people who are new here with resources.”

Zaman hosted the event in partnership with the InterFaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit. Its President Greg Geiger said it is important to help people in access health care resources they otherwise might not know how to reach, while bringing together faith-based organizations, including 35 churches, in and around Inkster to help serve those in need.

“This is a connection event where we are bringing threads together to connect with each other,” Geiger said. “The work going on from here is to have the community then build those threads to weave them together into a  support network that can last beyond just this day.”

Geiger and Mortada and others met with more than 30 local faith-based and health care leaders inside Zaman for a networking luncheon to strengthen those connections. 

The Mother Infant Health Advancement Day was sponsored by the InterFaith Leadership Council of Detroit, Southeast Michigan Perinatal Quality Improvement Coalition, Detroit Medical Center, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Wayne State University, and Soroptimist. Health screenings and resources were also provided and facilitated by several partners including Detroit Street Care, MSUCOM; Henry Ford Health Department of Family Medicine; Henry Ford Cancer; Wayne Health Mobile Unit; Wayne County Health, Human & Veterans Services; Starfish Family Services; University of Michigan College of Pharmacy; and Brigham Young University Marriott School.