ARISE Detroit! urges more to build up neighborhoods by getting COVID-19 vaccine

DETROIT (FOX 2) - The city of Detroit has one of the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the country for large cities as less than half of its residents have gotten the shot.

ARISE Detroit! wants to change that and is urging everyone in the Motor City to get protected now. Executive Director Luther Keith says the organization, which is known for its work to encourage Detroiters to improve their neighborhoods through its yearly event called Neighborhoods Day, now the organization believes it’s necessary to help Detroiters build up their communities in another way.

"It’s time to step up," Keith said. "Detroit quite frankly...is one of the lowest major cities in terms of vaccination rates. That is unacceptable"

So ARISE Detroit! is issuing a call to action as they've never done before by calling on unvaccinated Detroiters and anyone else to get the vaccine.

"We’ve never issued a statement like this before in our history but we thought this thing was so serious that we have to do our part to try to get people's attention," Keith said. "People are dying. How can anybody say it any better than that?"

The call comes ahead of the organization's virtual neighborhood summit

"If the summit is about people being vaccinated, why wait for the summit to tell them. Let’s tell them now," Keith said. "That’s why our November 6 neighborhood summit focuses on health, focuses on doctors, focuses on why people should get vaccinated because we can’t just let people die."

To learn more about the summit and how to register go to www.arisedetroit.org.