Nonprofit leaders across southeast Michigan will share stories of nonprofit, government, and philanthropic sectors coming together to think bigger, solve problems, and execute transformative projects.
This series is made possible with the generous support of our partners the Michigan Nonprofit Association, Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, and Co.act Detroit.
"As communities, we have a big task to fill what's been lost for students in the pandemic," says Andrea Meyer, executive director for the Center for Success Network. "I’m inspired by our mentors, this huge network of people who give up their time and talent to be with our amazing kids. They're all saying, this is important, we need to do this, and they're willing to ask, how can we do this together?"
"Soon, we plan to be able to deliver a curated and equitable mix of everything we get on a daily basis to everyone we serve," says Kirk Mayes, CEO of Forgotten Harvest. "Through our new data-based approach, we hope to provide families with not just a part of the solution, but the whole solution. For us, this means there's a healthy, nutritious, wholesome meal that actually quenches the thirst of hunger.
"I’m concerned we won’t be given serious consideration, and that a study five years from now will show the low percentage of Black entrepreneurs who were given access to these dollars just like we saw happen with PPP loans," says Dwan Dandridge, CEO and founder of Black Leaders Detroit, about the distribution of ARPA funds. "BLD is in a position to help those programs and dollars succeed right now."
"Live theater is more than just a creative outlet for those involved. It provides a creative space and a sense of connection for the community as well," says Regina Spain, executive director of Enter Stage Right in Port Huron. "We’ve definitely lost some sales due to our strict masking policy, but those who still attend, and look forward to our events, have been thanking us for caring about their safety the way we do."
"I'm encouraged that the YMCA often serves as a bridge builder," says Toni Kayumi, CEO of the Ann Arbor Y. "There's so much dissension in our communities amongst people. We hope the programs and services we offer, and our commitment to inclusion, can allow people of differing opinions and backgrounds to come together, to feel welcome, and to find commonality and compassion for each other."
"With each of our children, we strive to meet three long-term goals: to ensure they graduate from high school, to keep them out of the juvenile justice system, and to help prevent them from becoming teen parents. Our mentors spend at least four one-on-one hours a week with their children, two hours in the classroom and two outside of it, exploring and sharing activities and experiences together."
“It's an opportunity for white leaders to better understand their whiteness, to deconstruct it and work for racial equity...people get to remain whole because that’s the goal, that people actually feel they have agency and power to change oppression and racism."
"Everything we do is being done differently now and our staff are finding solutions," says Euphemia Franklin, executive director of South Eastern Michigan Indians, Inc. "We have to change and be like the water. If rocks are thrown into the water, it knows how to flow around them and keep moving. That's what we have to do as human beings and as human services."
"During the pandemic, we realized that we couldn't talk to anybody about civic engagement or anything else until their needs were met," says Kermit Williams, co-director of Oakland Forward in Pontiac. "People need to know that you care about them before they can even begin to consider deeper issues."
"Especially during the pandemic, children need a way to get those big emotions out. They’ve been affected just as adults have," says Laura Scales, executive director at Living Arts. "The arts can heal and transform. I want to give youth a way to dance it out, sing it out, draw it out and write it out."
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