April 14, 2023
In November 2021, I began my internship at Brilliant Detroit, a nonprofit dedicated to building kid success, families, and neighborhoods, where families with children from newborn to 8-years-old, have what they need to be school ready, healthy, and stable. It does this by providing year-round programming and support out of Brilliant Detroit homes in high-need neighborhoods.
My main project with the organization was helping to create a perinatal pipeline that offered programs and resources to families with children from pregnancy through the first 1,000 days after birth. There are ample resources available, but many families don’t know how to access them, so my task was to help make an easy, coordinated system to remedy this.
We began working on this system by contacting other organizations in Detroit about partnering. For example, we spoke with Birth Detroit Care which offers comprehensive prenatal and postpartum care by midwives. I sat in on many meetings and compiled a list of all the organizations Brilliant Detroit wanted to partner with and a description of what each organization would bring to the project. This project was only in the beginning stages at the time, but I appreciated being a part of it.
Because of this experience at Brilliant Detroit, I discovered my passion for nonprofits and decided to minor in social work. Today, I continue volunteering at Brilliant Detroit, encouraging as many people as possible to get involved at one of the organization’s 18 hubs. Check out its current volunteer opportunities and learn more here. Keep reading to learn more about some of the organizations’ neighborhood hub locations.
Brightmoor has the feel of a small town where neighbors know each other and lift their community from the ground up. This grassroots, innovative community is a culturally diverse environment with homegrown art, gardening, and entrepreneurial endeavors. As a Skillman Good Neighborhood, Brightmoor was the target of a ten-year effort of child-focused initiatives. Brightmoor’s biggest asset is its resilient residents, who roll up their sleeves to create community gardens, participate in block clubs and other organizations, transform vacant properties, and utilize the rolling hills and parks to gather together. Neighbors connecting with Brilliant Detroit are eager to create a pocket park next to the corner house, which they have designed to include a gazebo, perennial gardens, and more.
Warrendale is one of Detroit’s largest neighborhoods, lined with small businesses, schools, and resilient neighbors. Brick bungalows and charming yards are common in the area, with neighbors who care about their homes and community. In recent years, Warrendale has faced challenges, and neighbors are proactive in creating change and moving the neighborhood forward through revitalizing efforts, radio patrols to reduce crime, and welcoming the efforts of Brilliant Detroit – not to mention creating urban gardens.
Families in the Osborn neighborhood are deeply engaged in ensuring their children have everything they need to succeed. Osborn saw a substantial decrease in children and families over the last 20 years, but despite these losses, many neighbors have continued to stand together through a series of block clubs and community organizations. This neighborhood’s challenges and ever-present resilience has attracted numerous revitalization efforts to board up vacant houses, renovate schools, and recognize the vibrant Osborn art scene. In the months before acquiring a house in Osborn, Brilliant Detroit worked with a dedicated and passionate group of volunteers who hit the streets every day, looking for leads on a house that could one day sport the famous orange doors.
Written by Suzanne Chuparkoff, Spring 2023 Let’s Detroit Campus Ambassador
