Throughout the month of June, Kettering Health employees participated in the Westwood Beautification Project alongside local organizations I Love West Dayton and The Living City Project. Volunteers spent their Saturdays re-mulching, planting, and removing weeds, assisting senior residents and young families of Westwood with their service.

The Kettering Health employees who joined the month-long project were members of the Robert Patterson Unity Forum and other Kettering Health employee resource groups. Due to the initiative’s success and positive feedback from last year, the group joined forces again to continue supporting the community.

With scenic greenery returning to the neighborhood, people have been drawn to purchase formerly abandoned properties. The efforts of the volunteers continue to illustrate the organization’s mission of serving our communities.

Committed to Supporting the Westwood Community

This volunteer project is part of a larger initiative to support residents with workforce development, healthcare, and access to healthy food.

Dr. Chizoba Ugwummadu, Kettering Health Medical Group hospitalist, took the opportunity to participate in the Westwood Beautification Project with his family.

“Social and environmental influences contribute to over half of health outcomes. Social determinants of health (SDH) are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life,” said Dr. Ugwummadu. “My family and I are delighted to be part of the available social support for our community, and I thank the Robert Patterson Unity Forum for the opportunity to provide that support.”