The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services says there are now more than a thousand registered doulas in Michigan. That includes 700 doulas who take Medicaid.

Doulas are trained non-medical professionals who provide birth assistance, including emotional and physical support, and help families navigate the birthing experience. 

Dawn Shanafelt is the Director of the Division of Maternal & Infant Health for MDHHS. She says the state has surpassed its goal of registering 500 doulas through the Doula Registry by 2028, doubling that number as of last week. 

“What’s next for the program is to continue to support our existing doulas that are part of the registry. So the one thousand plus doulas. And then we are really focusing on enrollment and recruitment of doulas in areas where the number of doulas that are available for families is lower, and then also for special populations.”

Shanafelt says that includes populations that speak a language other than English, Indigenous populations, and teenage parents.  

She says having doula-assisted births reduces birth complications and medical interventions, shortens the duration of labor, and increases breastfeeding support. Babies also tend to have healthier birth weights.  

Additional headlines for Monday, November 24, 2025

MDHHS launches more On-the-Go food pantries

MDHHS has added a mobile food distribution site in Hamtramck, partnering with Forgotten Harvest.

The On-the-Go popup pantry will provide food pick-up for people who schedule appointments. There are options for fresh produce and grains and culturally appropriate foods such as halal or kosher options.

MDHHS says they will select and offer similar mobile food pantry options in Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties every month. The next one in Hamtramck will be held tomorrow Tuesday, Nov. 26 at the MDHHS office located at 12140 Jos Campau St. in Hamtramck.

People can make an appointment by emailing MDHHS-FH-WC-Hamtramck@michigan.gov.  Dial 211 or visit mi211.org online for free referrals to food pantries.  

Entry Points artist residency program wins award

A Hamtramck-based artist residency program is receiving a $175,000 award.

Entry Points is a program which offers housing and studio space for returning citizens who were formerly incarcerated juveniles. The nonprofit is receiving the 2025 J.M.K Innovation Award. The award is given by the J.M. Kaplan Fund to 10 awardees for their work in tackling social justice, environmental conservation, and heritage preservation.  

Entry Points was created by artist-activist Jonathan Rajewski and writer and former juvenile lifer Kyle Daniel-Bey through Hamtramk Free School, an alternative educational organization that facilitates creative writing and art workshops in Michigan prisons, working with juveniles who were sentenced to life without parole.   

Entry Points helps returning citizens reintegrate into public life, including presenting their work publicly.  

EGLE awards grants to limit runoff

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy is awarding $2.9 million to several groups to reduce pollution in waterways.

The Nonpoint Source Program grants will fund eight projects aimed at eliminating runoff at nonpoint sources which come from farms, urban areas and construction sites.

This occurs when there is rain, snowmelt, or when the wind carries pollutants into waterways. The grants will help repair waterways to reduce sediment, nutrients, and bacteria.  

If there is something happening in your neighborhood that you think we should know about, drop us a line at DetroitEveningReport@wdet.org.

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The Trump administration wants to cut the number of waterways protected under the Clean Water Act.

Some business owners and developers say the move would help them operate better because it would change which wetlands and streams legally count as an “official water of the United States.”

Those designations are covered by the Clean Air Act, which was originally written in part by the late Michigan Congressman John Dingell.

His wife, current U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, says protecting streams and wetlands helps stop pollution from flowing to large bodies of water like the Great Lakes.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

U.S. Rep Debbie Dingell: People that are seasoned, like myself, know what our waters used to look like. And John Dingell was really the significant author of the Clean Water Act, along with the late former U.S. Sen. Ed Muskie. And he did it because the Rouge River caught on fire. Now, the consequences of what this administration is going to do would undermine the strong protections that have kept our water safe and healthy and have cleaned them up. So I’m very concerned that we not go backwards. We see the Great Lakes and our Detroit water system is significantly improved from where it was 30 years ago, 40 years ago. But we have to keep cleaning it up. And taking away those safeguards endangers our water.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: Some environmental groups often raise concerns about runoff from farmland into waterways or companies dumping there illegally at times. Now they say this change proposed by the Trump administration could increase the chance of those types of activities happening. Do you agree with those kinds of concerns?

DD: I’m very, very concerned about what this means and what the real consequences are. Lake Erie has seen very significant experiences of algae blooms. People have actually been told not to drink tap water. So I think it’s very important that we make every effort to continue to clean up our water, protect our waters. And the administration’s announcement that they were going to roll back Clean Water Act regulations worries me greatly.

QK: On the other side, some business owners and farmers, among others, have said that they think the change will help them. It’ll limit the costs and regulatory red tape, they say, of having to check if a stream or other waterway on their property is covered under the Clean Water Act. They say it should be something that states regulate more than the federal government. What’s your reaction to those comments?

DD: We need to have federal regulation. Because here’s the reality. Water doesn’t say, “oops, I’m at a state line.” Do you think Lake Erie or the Detroit River know when they’ve crossed a state border? I think we should all be working together to keep our water safe. But when water runoff is going into major tributaries like the Huron River, the Rouge River, then goes into the Detroit River, which goes into the Great Lakes, there are consequences when there are things in those waters that are not safe. Things the public needs to be protected from. I want to reduce regulation. I want to look at how we can simplify. But undermining the goal of clean water is something that worries me greatly and something I will always fight for.