AAP Voices Blog

I am a fourth year medical student doing my rotations at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Hospital in Pontiac, Mich. My husband, Bobby Gosey, and I created an organization called Michigan COVIDsitters (MICS), and I want to tell you more about this resource and what we are doing for Michiganders.

At MICS, our mission is to help essential workers during this time of crisis. We provide all services free of charge by way of volunteers! Volunteers are students from health professional schools and universities. We currently have branches with volunteers throughout Michigan, including the Metro Detroit area, Grand Rapids, Midland and the Upper Peninsula.

Our services include family care (child care and elderly companionship and assistance),  pet sitting (in your home or ours, or even just for a nice walk), household errands (grocery shopping, meal prep, light house work or anything else that may help the day run a little smoother) and online tutoring for all grades and ages.

We provide assistance to all essential workers including, but not limited to: doctors, residents, nurses, hospital employees, RTs, phlebotomists, CNAs, MAs, PTs, hospital custodians, patient transport, administrative staff, EMTs, firefighters, police officers and pharmacists.

We have partnered with Dr. Hala Sabry at Physician Moms Group, Dr. Ryan Gray at Medical School Headquarters, and Mrs. Lara Francisco at Medelita to spread this resource to health care workers and essential hospital workers and also to medical students who may be interested in volunteering with COVIDsitters. COVIDsitters is now present in more than 30 locations.

If you would like to know more, please go to www.micovidsitters.org, or you view our video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GejH9204rUo&t=26s

Send in your COVID-19 pandemic story, and we may share it here and on our social media channels. https://bit.ly/2XVvJIu

*The views expressed in this article are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the American Academy of Pediatrics.