Dr. Alfred Bolden’s involvement with organ, eye and tissue donation started over thirty years ago when he worked at Henry Ford Hospital in the cardiothoracic ICU. As a nurse he saw firsthand the issues African American families faced regarding donation.
“Historically there is a lot of mistrust and misinformation that our community faces,” he said. “While I was a nurse, I was able to show them the [brain death] neurological exam so that they could see for themselves their loved one didn’t have a reaction. Having someone that looked like me do that work was so important.”
In those early days of his career, there weren’t many African Americans working in the organ and tissue donation field.
“When we would run across each other, we would have conversations,” he said. “I clearly remember someone telling me about MOTTEP (Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program) out of Howard University Hospital. It was one of those ‘When you can see it, you can be it’ moments.”
Started in 1991 by renowned transplant surgeon and pioneer Dr. Clive Callendar, National MOTTEP was created for the purpose of increasing minority donation rates nationally. Dr. Bolden went to Washington D.C. to learn more about the program. While there, he developed relationships with others who were passionate about educating and encouraging the community to become organ, eye and tissue donors.
In 1995, while working at Gift of Life Michigan, Dr. Bolden started the Detroit MOTTEP Foundation, continuing Dr. Callendar’s work here in Southeastern Michigan.
“It was important to bring MOTTEP here because we have such a great need in the community,” he shared. “We know that the better the match, the better the longevity of the transplant. It’s a genetic issue. African Americans match better with other African Americans, bottom line. That’s how all of that started for me, knowing that and just wanting to educate people around that.”
Dr. Bolden also knew that for the program to succeed, he needed someone who had connections within the community. More importantly, he needed someone who could build trust. Thanks to a grant from the National Institutes of Health, he was able to hire that person. Remonia Chapman joined the Detroit MOTTEP Foundation on July 1st, 1997.
“We were developing the Clergy Corp and Remonia had great relationships with the ministers and pastors in Detroit,” said Dr. Bolden. “Rev. Dr. Lawrence Foster was one of the first people to get involved very early on. Remonia worked with him and the program just grew.”
Dr. Bolden made sure Remonia was fully immersed in the world of donation. She stood in during a recovery surgery. She met with transplant recipients, and she spoke with grieving families whose loved ones made the generous decision to save someone’s life through donation.
For the first five years, Remonia’s position was part-time. The Gift of Life Board of Directors decided to make her position full-time to make the impact they wanted to achieve. Today she continues her work as a devoted advocate and program director for Detroit MOTTEP.
“MOTTEP is still important today because unlike every other area of medicine, transplantation is very external,” shares Remonia. “It can be impacted by external forces. Trust is a fragile thread. If you’re not careful it can begin to erode through one statement, one decision and one action at a time.”
After a career dedicating his life to helping patients, Dr. Bolden is now enjoying his retirement. He is very proud of the time he spent developing the MOTTEP program in Detroit and even prouder of hiring the right people for it to grow.
“It makes me feel absolutely wonderful knowing that the program is celebrating 30 years,” he said. “But I probably feel much better knowing that it was put into the capable hands of Remonia. It’s not a job that you can hand off to [just] anyone. She came along at the right time and took the reins of the program. She moved it forward 30 years later.”
Multicultural patients make up more than 60% of those on the organ transplant waiting list. The best way to save a life is by joining the Michigan Organ Donor Registry. Sign up today at golm.org/signup. To learn more about the programs and events provided by Detroit MOTTEP visit dmfdetroit.org.
