Motor City Match helps open Heal Well Detroit, giving Brightmoor seniors a new place to connect, stay active and receive daily care
Heal Well Detroit marks Motor City Match’s 211th neighborhood ribbon cutting, bringing a nearly 4,000-square-foot adult day center to the Brightmoor community.
The center serves seniors 55 and older and adults with disabilities with individualized daily programming, dementia support, exercise, digital literacy, barber services, showers and laundry.
Destiny Countryman, a Brightmoor resident and certified dementia practitioner, built Heal Well after years of caring for family members and delivering meals to seniors, and after seeing that many Detroit adult day centers had closed during the pandemic.
Heal Well Detroit opens as isolation weighs on older adults. Social isolation raises dementia risk by about 50%, according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and one in four Michiganders 50 and older say they don't have enough close friends.
A $55,000 Motor City Match Round 30 grant supported the center’s build-out and furnishings at 22243 Fenkell Ave.
September 25, 2026 (DETROIT) – Mayor Mary Sheffield and the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC) today joined Brightmoor resident Destiny Countryman to celebrate the grand opening of Heal Well Detroit, a nearly 4,000-square-foot adult day center at 22243 Fenkell Ave. The center gives seniors and adults with disabilities a place close to home to stay active, build connections and access daily care, including dementia support, exercise, digital literacy programming, showers, laundry and barber services.
Heal Well Detroit marks the 211th neighborhood ribbon cutting supported by Motor City Match. Countryman received a $55,000 cash grant through Round 30, which helped fund the center’s build-out and furnishings.
“I want somewhere where our seniors can go,” Countryman said. “I want it here for us. And when I say for us, I mean the community, so they don’t have to go out to the suburbs. They should have a nice center here.”
More than a place to spend the day
Countryman designed Heal Well Detroit around individualized enrichment rather than a one-size-fits-all schedule. She lives just behind the center and regularly talks with Brightmoor seniors, who consistently name isolation and transportation as their biggest concerns.
Isolation is one of the biggest challenges seniors face. Social isolation raises the risk of dementia by about 50% in older adults, according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and one in four Michiganders 50 and older say they don't have enough close friends.
“I don’t want to just sit behind a computer and allow data from a company to guide me,” Countryman said. “I go out in the actual streets talking to seniors, sitting there kicking it with them, and just telling them about Heal Well and listening to their issues.”
Heal Well clients move through different activities based on their individual schedules, with physical activity built into every day.
Mornings begin with coffee and conversation about current events, and daily programming can include exercise, digital literacy, games and other opportunities for social engagement.
The center includes an exercise area, computers, a library, a quiet room, a barber area, accessible showers, laundry facilities and a dedicated dementia area. Digital literacy programming will help seniors recognize online fraud, manage online accounts and get comfortable with emerging technology. A notary is also on staff.
“This is more than just where you come and color,” Countryman said. “It’s really about enrichment here where they can do things that benefit them.”
Heal Well Detroit will primarily serve seniors age 55 and older while also accepting adults age 21 and older with disabilities when the center can appropriately meet their needs. Countryman plans to begin with about 15 clients and gradually grow to about 50.
The center has four employees and partners with outside professionals to expand resources for clients, including pharmacists who will provide medication therapy management and medication delivery.
“Destiny saw seniors in her own neighborhood who needed a place to belong, and instead of waiting for someone else to build it, she built it herself,” said Sheffield. “When Detroiters turn their own experiences into businesses that lift up their neighbors, our whole city rises higher. Heal Well Detroit makes sure the seniors who built this city rise with it, staying connected, active and cared for in the neighborhood they call home.”
Years of caregiving lead to Heal Well
Countryman’s connection to elder care started at home. She was 19 when she came home from college to help care for her grandmother, who was receiving hospice care, and she later became guardian for her great-great-uncle, caring for him through the end of his life. She began cooking meals for seniors she found on Facebook about five years ago, delivering them herself and often finding that the people she visited were as eager for conversation as for food.
She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in public health and become a certified dementia practitioner. When she began planning a business in the Fenkell property owned by her business partner, Milton Brown, she found that many adult day centers had closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. That left few options in a city where residents 65 and older make up 15.1% of the population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Countryman is also building partnerships to make Heal Well a broader neighborhood resource. A partnership in development with the Urban League of Detroit and Southeastern Michigan will create opportunities for older adults looking to return to the workforce, and neighboring St. Christine Outreach Center plans to provide vouchers so people in need can use Heal Well’s shower and laundry services.
“Destiny didn’t guess what Brightmoor needed,” said Sean Gray, DEGC senior vice president of Small Business Services, which administers Motor City Match. “She got out in the neighborhood, sat down with seniors and asked them. Then she created Heal Well around their answers, from the location to the showers and laundry. That’s how you build a business a neighborhood can trust.”
Heal Well Detroit currently operates on a private-pay model, with half- and full-day rates based on the level of assistance a client needs. The center accepts long-term care insurance and is working toward credentialing with additional insurers. Countryman said she kept rates competitive on purpose while pursuing partnerships and funding sources that could help more Detroiters participate.
“I made the rate competitive for this exact reason, because of the location and the community I want to serve,” Countryman said.
New clients can use two complimentary four-hour visits before enrolling. Standard hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with early hours starting at 7 a.m. and extended hours through 6 p.m. available when scheduled in advance.
Through 32 rounds of Motor City Match:
Total cash grants: $21 million (Total leveraged investment: $119 million)
83.8% of awardees are minority-owned
72% are women-owned
70.6% are owned by Detroit residents
About Motor City Match
Motor City Match is a small business incubator program powered by a partnership between the City of Detroit, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC) and Economic Development Corporation of the City of Detroit (EDC). The program awards cash grants and provides planning, design and development support to entrepreneurs looking to open or expand a brick-and-mortar business in Detroit. Applications are accepted quarterly. More information is available at www.MotorCityMatch.com.
