A Community Health Worker’s Impact in Sycamore Meadows
Kelly Goolsby possesses an innate understanding of all the ways in which communities live, love, grow, and grieve - it’s a deep rooted part of what led her to a life of public service. Goolsby found her beginnings in Cleveland, Ohio in 1999, when she first founded a nonprofit called Operation Destiny. Operation Destiny was intended specifically for at-risk youth at a local high school and consisted of integral support with homework and classwork completion. “We were just trying to give them something to do on a Saturday versus getting in trouble,” Goolsby confided. Operation Destiny was one of the cornerstones of youth support in the city, and even back then, Goolsby understood the inherent difference that understanding, grace, care, and profound mentorship could make in the lives of students who attended school at an institution deemed “the worst of the worst.” Operation Destiny changed the way things were, and left the delicate, ever-changing, ecosystem that was youth education in Cleveland, forever impacted.
Goolsby returned to Michigan in 2003 and soon found herself in Ypsilanti in 2019. She began work with the Washtenaw Intermediate School District (WISD) as a trusted parent advisor, bridging the tumultuous and precariously widening gap between school-localized resources and community parents. It was here that she first began to mold the irreplaceable, forever meaningful niche that has come to define her life’s work within the County. Soon after, Goolsby applied to be a community health worker with the Washtenaw County Health Department, and has been working here ever since. “I absolutely love this work. I love serving. I can relate to a lot of my families because of the things that they've gone through I also experienced and so I think that gave me my footing to be the community health worker that I am today,” Goolsby shared.
One of the most meaningful things Goolsby has ever accomplished in her long-ranging career as a public service advocate lies in her extensive work with Sycamore Meadows, a residential community in the Ypsilanti area. Sycamore Meadows is one of the Health Department’s priority community engagement areas due to existing health inequities. “They are hit the hardest with our social determinants of health. They experience almost everything that you can think of and more,” Goolsby said. Goolsby has led the charge alongside Sycamore Meadows residents to rebuild the community. There already exists a deep foundation of love and life in Sycamore Meadows, of families who have called this place home for decades, which makes Sycamore Meadows’ path to restitution all the more important. Goolsby has facilitated food pantries, eviction prevention clinics, health screenings, as well as organized activities to keep children and their parents engaged. Goolsby founded “Mindfulness Mondays,” a yoga fitness group which has been going strong for four years and “Walking Wednesdays,” all with the intent of building community. “There’s a lot of crime and a lot of barriers. I felt the need to try to build community because people didn't even know their neighbors. I tried to do events so that they learn from each other and come together as a community.” And thus far, Goolsby’s efforts have been a resounding success.
When Goolsby first began her work with Sycamore Meadows community residents, it was “like pulling teeth. They didn't know who I was, and didn't understand why I was there,” Goolsby shared. It took Goolsby a lot of door knocking, ice cream socials, and a strong involvement with the Sycamore Meadows Tenant Association to begin forging connections. It was then that Goolsby understood Sycamore Meadows residents most deeply wanted the most basic of needs fulfilled, they wanted to feel safe. The community had become fractured by regularly occurring violence, shootings, and “all kinds of negative things,” as Goolsby pointed out. Residents had never been granted the opportunity to talk about what they needed and what they wanted, and in time, Goolsby became their critical bridge to existing health and human services. “I could finally say, hey, these people are hurting, they need cleaning supplies, they can’t meet there, they can’t get their recertifications, and so it was just the little things like that,” Goolsby said.
Goolsby's lasting vision for Sycamore Meadows and the community at large is to find a lasting way to implement affordable housing. “I want to be talking to Mr. Jimmy our state rep to see what kind of ways we can make that equal out,” Goolsby said. “You know, I work for the county, but I understand evictions and shut offs and all of these other things that my families go through,” Goolsby shared. And ultimately, it’s been Goolsby’s own personal and professional experiences that had allowed her to become a profound advocate for Sycamore Meadows.
Read more about the Healthy Neighborhoods Team here.