Thriveworks: A Holistic Approach to Community Building with Urenia Johnson and Adelina Robinson

On this episode, Donna and Sam sat down with Urenia Johnson and Adelina Robinson to discuss their newly formed collaboration, Thriveworks Coalition and how they’re amplifying access to essential services for families through a unified, holistic approach.

Founded by leaders from diverse nonprofit backgrounds, Thriveworks brings together organizations Corporate Development Institute (CDI) and Purposed Hands to create a “one-stop shop” for legal, financial, educational and family support.

Founded by Attorney Urenia Ricks-Johnson, Corporate Development Institute (CDI) is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and empowering underserved communities through financial literacy, youth mentorship and legal advocacy. 

Founded by Adelina Robinson, Purposed Hands is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to assisting low-income families in Westland, Detroit and surrounding areas. 

To learn more about CDI, Purposed Hands, and Thriveworks Coalition, click here. 

FOR HOT TAKES:

'NATIONAL SHUTDOWN' IN DETROIT: CASS TECH HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WALK OUT TO PROTEST ICE

DATA CENTERS, DIRTY DIRT AND DUGGAN VS. DEMOCRATS

Transcript

Introduction

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Up next, Authentically Detroit welcomes Urian Johnson and Adelina Robinson of Corporate Development Institute and Purposed Hands to discuss the Thrive Works Coalition, their newly formed collaborative dedicated to amplifying access to essential services. But first, this week's hot takes from the Michigan Chronicle and Bridge Detroit. We're talking about the student protests. Castec high school kids and teachers walked out this week to protest ICE, data centers, dirty dirt, Duggan versus Democrats. I spoke with Curtis Hertell, he is the chair of the Democratic Party, all about uh, you know, where uh the conversation about this dirt, who is actually to blame. I know a lot of people want to put it on this mayor. A lot of folks will say, whoa, whoa, whoa. Uh actually it was Mike Duggan that wasn't I'm one of them. Yes, you are. We don't want to talk about data centers too. Um keep it locked. Authentically Detroit starts after these messages.

SPEAKER_04 1:01

Interested in renting space for corporate events, meetings, conferences, social events, or resource fairs, the Sodomar Wellness Hub and MASH Detroit Small Business Hub are available for rental by members, residents, businesses, and organizations. We offer rentals for activities such as corporate events, social events, meetings, conferences, art classes, fitness classes, and more. To learn more about our rentals and reserve space, visit ecn-detroit.org slash space rental.

SPEAKER_00 1:33

Hey y'all, it's Orlando. We just want to let you know that the views and opinions expressed during this podcast episode are those of the co-hosts and guests and not their sponsoring institutions. Now, let's start the show.

SPEAKER_01 2:11

What's up, Detroit? Welcome to another episode of Authentically Detroit, broadcasting live from Detroit's East Side at the Stademeyer inside the East Side Community Network headquarters. I'm Sam Robinson.

Donna Givens Davidson 2:21

And I'm Donna Givens Davidson.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

Thank you for listening in and supporting our efforts to build a platform of authentic voices for real people in the city of Detroit. We want you to like, rate, and subscribe to our podcast on all platforms. Happy Black History Month. We're here today with Eurina Ricks Johnson and Adelina Robinson, who are here to discuss the newly formed collaborative Thriveworks Coalition and their dedication to amplifying access to essential services for families through a unified, holistic approach. Eurina and Adelina, welcome to Authentically Detroit. How are you guys doing today? Doing good.

SPEAKER_03 2:53

Thank you for having us being here. Yeah. Thank you guys for joining us.

Donna Givens Davidson 2:57

Thank you.

unknown 2:58

Yes.

Donna Givens Davidson 2:58

Happy Black History Month. I'm really excited.

SPEAKER_03 3:00

It's a great month. Even though it's all year, we're glad to we're glad to celebrate it on this month.

Student Walkouts And ICE Protests

Donna Givens Davidson 3:06

We are, we are, you know, I am. It's people, I've I've mentioned this before. I'm writing a book, and it's about Black Detroit. And I said I was done last month, but you're never done, right? And so um really, really delving into our history, just this is a wonderful time to celebrate um not just black history, but black Detroit history because our history is so amazing. Our ancestors did so much great work creating the pathway that brought us here today.

SPEAKER_02 3:36

Correct. That's so true. That's so true.

SPEAKER_01 3:40

All right. It's time for hot takes where we run down some of this week's top headlines in the city of Detroit. First up, that national shutdown. It came to Detroit in the form of these school protests, Cas Tech and the uh School of Uh Arts uh over there near Cass Corridor. About 200, I would say about 350, walked out. And last period on uh Friday, they marched from the high school uh down Woodward Avenue back to Cass Park uh to protest the ice killings of two 37-year-old uh protesters in in Minnesota. Organizers said the demonstrations that included students and teachers uh was intended to send a message to elected leaders that even kids know the aggressive enforcement tactics championed by President Trump are wrong. Teachers at Cast Tech, uh they actually received instructions from administrators to not interfere with students who decided to leave early for the protest. It was interesting. Uh some of the student leaders at the protest who were talking said, you know, I uh we know a lot of folks that decided to get up and walk out with us, uh, you know, it actually didn't join our protest and just, you know, we're using this as an excuse to skip class or or to leave school early. They were like, you know, we're here for a for a specific purpose. We didn't uh you know use this as an excuse to skip. Um and and even some of the the teachers I talked to one um DSA teacher uh on Woodward, they had walked pretty far down all the way to Cass Park to join the Castech students last week.

Donna Givens Davidson 5:10

Um and on the same day, can we just notice it was cold outside? And it was.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

I mean that's that was the labor really. It really was. It was zero degrees. I was uh following those kids on foot um from my car. I parked my car up near LCA, and by the end of it, I could not feel my my hands. Um, because I was at uh this protest I missed on Friday. Leaders at the Detroit branch NAACP called on Michigan's congressional delegation to introduce measures to hold ICE and customs border patrol agents accountable. Uh they're calling on on uh Gary Peters and Alyssa Slotkin to limit Department of Homeland Security funding. Both of our senators have said that they're gonna vote against DHS funding after the uh shootings in in Minneapolis. Uh Detroit Branch NAACP President Wendell Anthony stood behind leaders from the Arab American Civil Rights League and Latino Americans for social and economic development in a show of solidarity. Uh, we heard from a number of folks um over the over the weekend, young people too. I mean, and you know, we've been hearing, I think, a lot of these protests, which are um I think the free press had a story on it last weekend. The the protests have been majority white, right? I mean, if not 90, 95 percent of those folks that are going out there, and they're you know taking up space in Detroit, um, are coming down from Ferndale or or you know the southern.

Donna Givens Davidson 6:31

When you say taking up space, what do you mean?

SPEAKER_01 6:33

Well, you know, they're they're here. I don't mean that in a derogatory sense.

Donna Givens Davidson 6:36

I mean, a lot of people have criticized get your people together, okay? I'm not going outside and you know, really, I didn't vote for this guy, so it's on you, right? I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_03 6:47

No, no. Yeah, it's definitely your fight.

SPEAKER_02 6:50

Yeah, yeah. You know, definitely I say if you don't vote, you don't have a right. But if you voted, deal with it. That's your problem.

Donna Givens Davidson 6:56

People have rights if they don't vote, and the people they're snatching off the streets are people who could not vote. And so I think that it's important for us to come together in love right now. I love the fact that Dr. Wendell Anthony joined forces with excess and Latino leaders because we've been kind of divided since this last election. Let's in in the people who want us divided are the people who are trying to oppress us.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

Haven't been kind of divided. There's been divided. Yes, definitely. There's been divisions.

Accountability, Solidarity, And Civil Rights

SPEAKER_03 7:21

And we and we have to be united and just understand that this overreach is definitely unconstitutional. We have an administration that is really not even following any guidelines, anything connected with the law, anything connected with the civil liberties and civil rights of individuals, and this overreach of people that are really not qualified to do what they're doing, that's the reason why they're out there because they have free reign and they're not operating under any color of the law. They're just doing what they need to do based on what they've been ordered to do, right?

Donna Givens Davidson 7:53

Keep in mind that many of us have ancestors. The slave catchers came up after us like this, okay? Yes. And if you have slave catchers in the past in your family to sit on your hands and act like this is not your problem, is disturbing. It is it's it's being blind and it's assuming, well, it's happening to them, not to me. Injustice anywhere, it's injustice everywhere, hats off. And you know, on that note, before we even continue talking about this story, can we say take a moment of silence for Ismail Ahmed? Ismail is did I say his name correctly? I always get um he's he's one of the founders of Access, the Arab American Um organization, and also the Arab American Museum. He was the um head of the Department of Civil Rights for the State of Michigan, an amazing humanitarian who passed away yesterday. And there are many people um, you know, grieving for his loss. So I think it's always important for us to lift up people who made such a great contribution, even if they are not people from our own community. But anyway, Sam, you're gonna finish the story.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

Yeah, student organizers, uh they are planning another protest against ICE next Friday, uh, February 6th, with similar uh, you know, march and um uh demonstration outside of of Cass Park. Uh what I was gonna say was that you know, these were mostly um um black and brown students. Um you know, it's interesting. I think about the demographics of Castec High School. Their senior president is a Mexican-American woman. Um, and I just wonder, you know, how many senior class presidents have Castec had that share your identity? She the girl didn't know.

Remembering Ismael Ahmed

Donna Givens Davidson 9:35

Oh, Castec is increasingly um diverse in terms of its ethnicities. There's a lot of Bangladeshi students at Castech and others from other communities. Um, but Castec students have a history of this. I started working at ECN in March on March 7th of 2016, so I'm almost at my 10th anniversary. Um, and when I started here, the students had another walkout walking out on behalf of their teachers. And we had a teen program, that's when Orlando worked here, and we brought them here and talked to them. And I don't know if you know Natalia Henderson. Yeah. Yeah, Natalia was one of the teens who walked out. Oh wow. Yes, and so she was a student leader and they were standing up for their teachers, and so I'm proud of Castech students, even though I did not have the privilege of going to Castech, and sometimes it annoys me how cocky they can be. Castechnicians, I'm talking to you. You know, you're a lot. It's all good. Very territorial, right? And proud. It's like, you know, but but but in this instance, I'm with you. Yes.

Protest Demographics And Cass Tech History

SPEAKER_01 10:38

Uh moving on to the next story from Malachi Barrett, uh, my tremendous colleague from Bridge Detroit, uh, talking about this uh dirty dirt situation that now the Democrats are going to point and say, you know, look at at you know, Duggan is gonna say he brought back Detroit. However, you know, you have this huge toxic dirt scandal. Uh Malachi Barrett writes, Mike Duggan has not been the mayor of Detroit for the last month, but that didn't diminish the stage time he received at last week's annual policy conference. Of course, you know, disclaimer, uh, the chamber endorsed Duggan, and so no other gubernatorial candidates uh made it to the conference, because why why bother? Duggan was the lone Democratic, or excuse me, Duggan was the lone governatorial hopeful invited to the Detroit Regional Chamber, which endorsed him through uh its political committee last July. That is a really early, early endorsement. He was giving given roughly a half an hour to work through can't his campaign talking points on data centers, defend the legacy of his demolition program, and take some shots at Democrats who balked at his decision to leave the party. Attendees who spoke with Bridge Detroit about Duggan's candidacy throughout Thursday's gathering of business philanthropic, philanthropic, and political players, fell along two lines of thinking. Duggan will either threaten unprecedented needle in Michigan politics and become governor, or divert more Democratic votes at the hand and hand the office to Republicans, excuse me. Uh one of the pre-people that Malachi spoke to, who I spoke to as well, because I was standing right next to him while he was doing it, uh, was Joe Tate. And, you know, not only did Joe Tate you know kind of defend the um um you know forward progress of these data centers, of course, he has been a tremendous ally and partner to DTE throughout his career. Um he also said something that was interesting to us that you know we all can see, but we're looking for Democratic leaders like Joe Tate to say it out loud. That Mike Duggan is gonna take a lot more votes from Democrats than he is Republicans. He has existed and operated in Southeast Michigan for the last however many years. Um it's gonna take time for some of those uh you know Republican voters over time who have even in Michigan, you know. We know I I spent 12 years in Midland. A lot of the more moderate Republicans who are kind of looking up and like, this is chaotic, can we move on to the next? Begrudgingly voted for Trump. You know, they're even having a hard time saying that they're gonna vote for Duggan.

Donna Givens Davidson 13:03

And so, you know, it's an interesting it's um I was reading a uh editorial today saying that um 2026 was going to be a good year for Republicans in our state. And um, you know, this was written by a former head of the Republican Party, I can't remember his name. But one of the things that um he said was that Mike Duggan was the secret weapon of the Republican Party. That's coming from a Republican activist. When he was at the policy conference, I didn't go, but when he was there, apparently he had a lot to say about Democrats. What did he say about Republicans? Because, see, if you're in there and you're attacking Democrats and saying I'm neutral, then I'm thinking you're not. What has he said about Donald Trump and anything Donald Trump has said? He says, Well, I don't think I get anywhere by criticizing him.

SPEAKER_01 13:54

You know, he did he did push back on the uh the killing of that man, Alex Freddy.

Donna Givens Davidson 13:58

Well, that that's courageous. I don't know if he said anything about that. That's courageous.

SPEAKER_01 14:01

So I mean, he did push back. He did, you know, I don't nameless. He did not name Trump for you.

Dirty Dirt Scandal And Duggan’s Bid

Donna Givens Davidson 14:08

That is absolutely. Um in cold blood on camera. Thank you, Mike Duggan. But I think I'm looking for something else. Um I think people we're we're looking at so many things that this administration has done, the erasure of black history, the attacks on black uh organizations, and the ability even to have scholarships for black folks, the ability to set up funds for black folks, the you know, deciding that Martin Luther King, you choose your battle. And he has been on the wrong side of every single one of them because silence is consent. And so, as far as I'm concerned, I don't want to hear about it. Now, as for that dirt downtown, you don't get to be mayor and brag about everything you did and then wash your hands for when it went well, and wash your hands of all the problems. If Mary Sheffield tried to take credit as a city council president for the transformation of the city, he would take it back and say, No, it was me. And I'm giving him that dirt because it was his staff people who formed the contract, who selected the company that did that. And this is not one contractor. Guyanka is not the only contractor that has poisoned our community in this mass demolition process. He's just the latest one.

SPEAKER_01 15:23

Iron Horse is another one.

Donna Givens Davidson 15:24

And Iron Horse is another one, but there are many, many, many before him. If you go back and you look at all of the probes on the Duncan administration, you will find that there's a track record of this. And so, yes, I don't like Brian McKinney any more than anybody else. I'm I think that you know, city council possibly could have not voted for for this contract. But the contracts were voted on unanimously and presented by the mayor. And this mayor got unanimous consent for dump darn near everything he presented to them. The blood is on his hands, the sickness is on his hands. Quit trying to make it about a woman who dated a man who she probably should not have dated because um all the women stand up who have not done so, okay? Oh my goodness. Raise your hand.

SPEAKER_01 16:12

I want to get into what he said about Democrats on stage that had Democrats reacting in such a strong, fierce way over the weekend. Uh he said that we had people saying in the Democratic caucus, I'm not gonna put more money back in the schools unless you pass my bill to guarantee transgender athletes can play in girls' sports. Duggan said this on stage. Now, remember a year ago when I reported that he was talking about this topic? Um he actually told me that that I misquoted him and I said, Well, what did you say? He didn't correct me. So now we know, you know, a year later that yes, this is this is how he feels about this issue.

Donna Givens Davidson 16:50

So, Sam, is this your big I told you so moment?

SPEAKER_01 16:52

Well, you know, I will say that I'm glad that I reported it a year ago. So now that we're having this conversation, of course, there was no bill. Um, you know, and and of course, there is a there's an ongoing debate among Democrats on this issue, but it was never baked into any legislation.

Donna Givens Davidson 17:08

But but his friend and colleague, Karen Whitsett, played such a significant role in stymieing those votes. This I'm not saying she did it so that he could have a reason to beat uh Democrats over the head, but you have to acknowledge that the problem with Mike Duggan is not that he doesn't believe in partisanship. The problem with Mike Duggan is that he wants to take down the Democratic Party. And he has been doing so for a while. Remember, his police chief and his deputy mayor was James Craig, who came out as a Republican soon after he left office. Okay, so the reality is you have to ask yourself about his political stripes. It boggles my mind that people believe this man is gonna get 20%. He says, Well, I'm gonna get 20% from Republicans and 22% from Democrats. I don't know who's it maybe he is delusional, okay? Well, and by the way, I was quoted in our magazine, our magazine's issue this month came out, and I just found out I'm there. Um someone said, Hey, you're in our magazine, so I had to look it up, saying, I think this is a problem. So, Sam, maybe in um December of next year I'll be able to say, I told you so, but I don't want to. I don't want to have a Republican governor. And I don't want to have Mike Duggan as governor. I want somebody as governor in this nation where we are under attack from a president who believes in basic human rights and is willing to fight for them. And I don't see it coming out of either of the Republican, the the independent Republican or the actual Republican who will run against him.

Democrats, Data Centers, And Party Risks

SPEAKER_01 18:41

It's funny because you know, Republicans say that Duggan is the independent Democrat and they yell and scream when he releases statements uh condemning the murder of that guy in in Minneapolis, Alex Predi. And so that's my question is who are you for? What is your lane? It screams very similar to me. Uh a campaign that we watched happen in New York with Andrew Cuomo. When I asked Curtis Hertell, I said, Well, Duggan was in New York on election night. You know, where was he? You know, why have you guys been unable to make that connection, Trump to Duggan, much like how Zora Mandani did with Cuomo to Trump. And and you know what Curtis Hertell told me? He said, Well, Sam, I don't really think Michigan voters care about Mario Cuomo. Um we're talking about Andrew Cuomo. Well, I think And I said, Curtis, perhaps this in my head, I didn't say this out loud, but I said, Oh my gosh, perhaps this is the issue.

Donna Givens Davidson 19:33

The Pierre's a problem with the Democratic Party. And I'm not attacking it like he is. But when you That was not an attack, I just I know, but but I think the problem is an identity crisis. You have to figure out are we for justice? And if so, will we fight injustice no matter who's bringing it? Or are we trying to play the middle and step in the middle and he got in our middle lane and we got to push him out of this middle lane? My feeling is that we need leadership that is really fighting for people in ways that we have not had in a long time because we are under unprecedented attack. And I'm really scared about what that means. So um I think the challenge is that the party leaders have all been some of his buddies. They thought like him, acted like him, and all of a sudden they're on opposite sides and he's attacking them. I don't think that he is fighting people who are um progressive, who are anywhere close to where I am politically. Um so I think that if he wins, I mean if if the Republicans win, I think the Democratic, there's gonna gotta be some soul searching for Michigan Democrats. What are we doing here? And why are we letting this happen? What do we stand for? Um, Mondami, who in the uh leadership of the Michigan Democratic Party uh has values like Mondami?

SPEAKER_01 20:46

Or at least can articulate a message that is able to be retweeted and posted on Instagram reels or whatnot. And that's my my thing with Curtis is there's no opposition to Doug. There's certainly opposition to John James, but it's difficult to message against the former mayor of Detroit. It's just it's just incredibly difficult.

Values, Messaging, And Michigan Politics

Donna Givens Davidson 21:05

When you don't have your own, I could message. I've got lots of messages. You listen to me every week. I've got lots of things to say. We're talking about, he brags about housing. Housing in Detroit is at a fragile state right now. Let's be really honest. There's all of the housing that he helped build up. We have so many apartment buildings that are vacant in foreclosure or facing foreclosure. We have people in apartment buildings that are cold because they don't have heat. So when you brag about things, again, you got to take responsibility for the good and the bad. You can't talk about demolition and not talk about toxic dirt. You can't talk about building all these apartments and not talk about the failure of these apartment buildings to thrive. You can't even talk about building up downtown knowing that we have a vacancy rate like we have downtown. And with the building of the Hudson's Project, now we have the vacant Renaissance Center. I mean, at some point, where's the accountability? What does progress look like? Unless the Democratic Party has clear metrics around what progress looks like, anything will do. He makes for good headlines. But when you start digging beneath the surface, you're gonna find out there are a lot of things that um are going to be blamed on our current mayor.

SPEAKER_03 22:15

Yes. That she's inheriting and she didn't establish that foundation.

SPEAKER_01 22:20

Yeah, I've been saying for the last month Democratic Party um is going to put many of its marbles behind Mary Sheffield. They are going to try to uh do whatever they can to help her message and and create this um um appearance of success early on, um, because if she does not have success early on, that allows the the Mike Duggan people to stand up and say, whoa, whoa, whoa.

SPEAKER_03 22:46

That's why we have to come in and do something.

Donna Givens Davidson 22:48

Yeah, it is and I don't think she can live to I don't think it's her responsibility, really. I think the Democratic Party is responsible for doing it. In fact, the 13th district of the Democratic Party was actively spending money to keep her out of office. So keep her name out your mouth, okay? I'm sorry, just jumping out. Yeah, it was Kenlock was the brother of the chair. Okay, whether he's the brother of the chair or not, they rallied the forces, they got the UIW to support her, they wrote you know, reeled in a whole lot of people who opposed her candidacy. And so to act as though she's supposed to be savior for her party that did not even recognize early enough that she was the one all along. I mean, I knew it.

SPEAKER_01 23:30

I know, and and insiders had such a pushback. I mean, for people to criticize her late stage for being so friendly to the billionaires when it the the billionaires were only friendly to her when they realized that she was going to be the next mayor. I mean, remember they endorsed Fred Durhall early on. And I mean, I I I I cringe sometimes at some of the uh uh criticism that I hear on on both. I mean, uh both of the the candidates, um, you know, obviously I'm in a reporter and I'm in a neutral observation position. And so throughout the whole campaign, I was kind of like laughing at some of the the criticisms, but I do think that you make a good point. You know, it's a lot of people.

Donna Givens Davidson 24:05

I don't, you know, I I I didn't find the I thought this he he ran a very misogynistic campaign. I'll be honest with you. And as a black woman, I was offended. I was really, really offended.

SPEAKER_02 24:15

And you were and and mind you, when we even who you say you are.

Donna Givens Davidson 24:21

You know who we we did a full candidate series. He was the first person we interviewed. And we attempted, we I was actually excited about him entering the race. Yes, so this is not coming from a place of it had to be a woman.

SPEAKER_01 24:32

Genuine excitement, you're not lying.

Donna Givens Davidson 24:34

Yes, I was really excited. I was like, this is gonna be great. We are gonna have an outsider who's gonna bring some different perspectives. The fact that he was not well prepared and he's got 30,000 members. If I had 30,000 members, I'd be the smartest person in the room, okay? So the the the you you gotta be prepared. She did her homework and she did the work. Um, and I don't want to even try to relitigate that campaign, but I was offended and I could not be neutral, even though I intended to be neutral. I had to get off the sidelines and say, you know what, we need a mayor who is going to do the right things. I know we have to take a break.

Housing Reality And Accountability Metrics

SPEAKER_01 25:05

Yeah. But we will. And when we come back, uh we're gonna hear more about the Thrives Works Coalition and how uh we can uh do more to amplify access to essential services for families.

SPEAKER_04 25:28

Eastide Community Network is proud to support Rise Higher Detroit, a transition guided by community built on collaboration. Mayor Sheffield wants to hear from Detroiters, and your input in this citywide survey will help shape what comes next. Stop by ECN and ask for Juanita to complete the survey in person. Or take the survey today by visiting our website at ecn-detroit.org.

SPEAKER_01 26:03

Welcome back, everyone. Thriveworks Coalition is a newly formed collaborative dedicated to amplifying access to essential services for families through a unified, holistic approach. Funded by leaders from desert diverse nonprofit backgrounds, ThriveWorks brings together organizations Corporate Development Institute and Purpose Hands to create a one-stop shop for legal, financial, educational, and family support. Founded by attorney Yurna Rix Johnson, Corporate Development Institute is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and empowering underserved communities through financial literacy, youth mentorship, and legal advocacy. Founded by Adelita Robinson, Purpose Hands is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting low-income families in Westland, Detroit, and the surrounding areas. Corporate Development Institute and Purpose Hands are hosting a future-proof families money law and legacy financial course for families enrolled at Purpose Hands' Learning Center. This course launch sets the foundation for future community initiatives to be held throughout the year. All right. Now that we know a little bit about you guys, tell us uh, you know, how did you guys uh uh connect and decide let's join uh forces uh to to do this work?

SPEAKER_03 27:15

Well, we actually uh met because I'm a practicing attorney and I met Adelina through her um her vision of actually opening up another daycare center in Detroit. Um I'm a native of Detroit East Side of Detroit, and we um from there it just kind of grew um in the collaboration of what we were doing. I saw her passion in for the children and and um having those things that she wanted to give to the children, but she did not have anything that she could give to the parents. And Adelina, if you know her, you know that she's all about the kids. Whatever she can do for the kids, she's like, give, I'm gonna give somebody else the adults, but give me the kids, right? So I wanted to make sure in our collaboration that I provided services to parents. I've been doing um operating corporate development institute since 2016, and we have done workshops and classes, and we've seen the success of families thriving and doing more with the workshops that we give them on financial literacy and legal advocacy.

SPEAKER_01 28:14

Talk about those workshops. I mean, what does it one look like?

Mary Sheffield, Mandates, And Expectations

SPEAKER_03 28:17

So one um most of the time it looks like um our in our legacy series, we have um professionals come in and provide. Um, we get us, we do a survey with the with the parents or the individuals at the beginning just to kind of see what they're looking for. We find a lot of people are are just starting, some of them are starting at ground zero. They need to the basics of budgeting, trying to figure out things, try trying to figure out how to maintain their family. So we go from the all the way down from the beginning, all the way to the end of taking them up where they're ready for like legacy planning and estate planning, which is what I do on a regular basis as well. So we take them from the beginning, and then we also dispel some myths about the law. You know, I've been practicing law for over 20 years, and there's a lot of misinformation about the law and what it can and cannot do. So I try to do in my workshops to provide that education and to try to provide access to the legal system for individuals that would normally not have access to it.

SPEAKER_01 29:11

Sure. Adelina? Yes. From your perspective, I mean, uh talk about, I understand uh your organization is is uh supporting families and children during the holiday season. Um uh talk about the work and and why you felt it was appropriate to to join forces in this way.

SPEAKER_02 29:29

So we started Purpose Hands because I own a daycare. I own two, one in Detroit, one in Westland, and we see need. So we basically handed most of our kids are low-income kids. So most of our kids are like the scenario we had today that we were talking about, things like that, where family needs help. And it's a shame that we just can't help them without having some form of protection for ourselves or for the kids. And so at my daycare, we seen that a lot of kids needed food, clothes, diapers, whites. And we put the program together so that we can get that for them. And so what we have started was a program where um every month parents can come in and ask for things and we give it to them through our daycare. And we also give it to the surrounding community. And so me and Urina got together and said, Hey, you know, I can handle the kids because that's my passion. I've been doing it for 20 years, and you can handle the adults because we have to be the parents. If we want change, we have to get the parents on board. And keeping that cycle going of people being on low income and people being in situations where domestic violence and all these things somewhere has to change. And to do that, we have to have the financial literacy, have the capability to empower our parents again. And that's where the Thriveworks came in, where we can work together to change that. Because most of our children um are in Yangster and different things like that, and they come to our daycare and and you know, I have foster kids, I have abused kids, different things like that. And then I have some I have a wonderful group of people that helped me out in this program, and we decided uh back three years ago to start doing this and helping our families and having a one-stop shop where we not only have what we can give toys, but we give food, we give what they need to make sure they're taken care of. Because I'm a person that says, you know, don't complain about it, be about it. So do what you need to do to make sure you meet the need for everyone involved.

Donna Givens Davidson 31:30

I I have a similar philosophy. I always say I'm the change, I have the change what you can style of leadership, right? So um just figuring out what your strengths are, correct, what your gifts are, where your assets are, and putting them in the right place is you know what you can do. I have some questions though. Um I've the childcare is such a hard business to be in, especially when you are working with indigeno children, because depending on state childcare reimbursements, I know can be a challenge, right? Yes, yes, it is. And then I just read that the current the the current president is demanding that all of these, you know, um cases be audited because they're saying there's tens of thousands, millions of people who are not filing byes that concern you. And if so, what are the safeguards? How do you keep your business going in light of all of the challenges against caring for kids who um our society does not want to take care of?

SPEAKER_01 32:23

Are you worried you're gonna get a you know random streamer that's gonna show up and well I'm I'm also worried just about financial stability.

SPEAKER_02 32:30

But also like financial stability.

SPEAKER_03 32:32

Yes.

ThriveWorks Coalition Introduction

SPEAKER_02 32:33

Well, see, that's where Purpose Hands came about. We want to be able to build this where we can take care of ourselves. Like, you know, where we fund it, where we don't have to depend on the state and the government and everybody, you know, asking for people to help us and support and things like that, which that's why Thrive Works came about, so that other people can come along and see that this is needed. Because if a parent can't work, then a child can't eat. So we have to understand that this is a collective thing. And to change it, we all have to be a part of it. So we I brought this about as far as for purpose hands, was because I kept seeing the same need, the same problem. And am I worried about what the government is doing and what's going on? Not really, because my help doesn't come from them. I believe in a higher being. So but I also believe that it takes me doing something about it. Me getting out there and asking for the grants, me getting out there and funding this myself, where my parents can come to me and say, you know, I can't afford child care. Okay, let's get a voucher, let's get this, let's get these things lined up so that you can uh go to work. That's beautiful. And that's what it's about. Can you talk about some of your success stories? So for just recently, we we did um December 26th. We did um for Christmas, we did uh toys. We did we helped 50 families and 83 children with toys, food, and clothes for Christmas. Then Thanksgiving, we helped 35 parent families, you know, getting food and stuff like that. Um I have 74 children in my daycare at this time, and we're opening up the second location to do the same thing. And that's the one in Detroit. That's the one in Detroit. Where in Detroit is it gonna be? 2424 Puritan. Oh, okay. Over there. Yes.

Donna Givens Davidson 34:13

Okay, so 2424, um, where is that?

SPEAKER_02 34:16

Right there in the Livinois area over there.

Donna Givens Davidson 34:18

Yeah, so my um my my friend has a church writer there, church over the new Church of the New Covenant. Yes, I know. Right down there. No, you know, Reverend Allison?

SPEAKER_03 34:27

I have I have um heard I've heard of Pastor Allison.

Donna Givens Davidson 34:31

I can I'd be happy to connect you. Definitely, yes, yes, um, that's it's a great place, and there's a lot of need in that community. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 34:37

And bring that's the thing, it's bringing the community together to see the problem. The thing is, we rely on the government. Reality, let's just be honest, it's our job to take it back and say we can do it ourselves and make sure we stand for ourselves. And that's a that's a change.

Donna Givens Davidson 34:53

That's a change that you can, leadership, right?

SPEAKER_02 34:55

Yes.

Donna Givens Davidson 34:55

Um, people say our ancestors had it worse than this. But our ancestors figured out how to take care of each other. Exactly. And we have got to get back to that community where we understand that the people who don't love us are not gonna save us, right? Well, why would we Black History Month, y'all? It's our job to save ourselves. It's our job to love each other enough that we find a way.

Financial Literacy And Legal Workshops

SPEAKER_03 35:15

So that's so important. And it's so important to, that's why this partnership was so important to make sure that we were um, when we first started coming together, we talked about fulfilling the needs that we saw. Because a lot of times you have a lot of programs that are really not looking at the needs of individuals. They're just giving, they're just doing programs, right? Right. So we tried to find out specifically what the needs were. We we knew that there were some there were some issues with domestic violence, there were some issues with um understanding how to navigate through the legal system and we provide we're providing no services. We knew that there was some some food insecurities and we're providing no services. We knew that there was some just basic budgeting or some things that people needed in their household to understand and to have access and provide resources. And that's another thing that we've we've tried to provide. So just really try to figure out what we can do or what access that we can provide for individuals has been the the birthing of Thriveworks.

Donna Givens Davidson 36:10

That's wonderful. So, Eurina, you are helping the parents. Yes. And you're educating them on finances and you're helping them with legal issues. Are there any changes that you've seen in the parents as a result of your intervention?

SPEAKER_03 36:22

Well, I have seen with with my um, we just started the program, but with within the corporate development institute, we have um we have definitely seen um parents come and individuals come from the beginning of just understanding about financial literacy to now, like I said, growing into the fact that now they're ready for an estate plan and now they they're seeing that they're now they're working a regular job. Now they're looking at the fact of leaving a legacy for their for their children. They're looking at because you know, when we first start talking to them, they're not even thinking about that, they're thinking about survival.

Donna Givens Davidson 36:54

Change takes so much time. Yes, yes, it doesn't, it's not gonna happen in six weeks, eight weeks, or one workshop, right? You gotta plant that seed and you're planting seeds, right?

SPEAKER_03 37:03

And then we continue to try to monitor it. That's the great part about Annalina's program is that we are able to kind of uh walk on a journey with them. And then after they complete the initial course, we're gonna do a part two and just kind of see what we can do in order to take them a little bit further. Because we know, like you said, it doesn't happen overnight. Just getting up and talking to them for 30 minutes or just providing them with food and just giving them, just planting that seed is not enough. We have to go that extra mile and make sure that they accomplish their goals that you're trying to reach.

SPEAKER_02 37:32

I always say empower, not cripple.

SPEAKER_06 37:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:35

Because at the end of the day, I can give you something, it won't matter. But if I teach you and you can do it yourself, then it makes it better. And that's what this is about is growing them to do it themselves so that we can stop that cycle.

Donna Givens Davidson 37:48

Sometimes we have to do both, right? And so you're doing both, you're giving away kids and you're also educating parents. That's right. Because, you know, sometimes just to build trust. Yes. But also, you pointed out to meet that immediate need, so they can focus on personal change. That's great.

SPEAKER_03 38:04

Because if they're looking right now, they're they're not looking at um long term, they're looking at right now. What can you do? We need some food right now.

Purpose Hands: Meeting Daily Needs

SPEAKER_02 38:11

So getting out of that survival mode, meaning, you know, there's times when you see families and they come in my daycare and you can tell they're in survival. And you're like, okay, we need to get you past survival and in empowerment, and knowing that you can do it yourself and growing you. And how do I do that? That's where this came about, and that's where we're we're hoping that a lot of other organizations and companies will see that that need is needed. But we need it in a sense of that we all come together to do it. It doesn't take one person, it takes a community.

Donna Givens Davidson 38:42

So, what are your short-term plans? What do you where are you trying to go from here? I know you're opening up a new center, but uh, do you have other vision for what you're trying to accomplish?

SPEAKER_02 38:49

Correct. Yes, we do. So we have um monthly uh classes that we do at my kit my daycare center that we do every month for families to come out to and be a part of. Anyone's welcome to come. And we also have our end of the year, you know, for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the holidays. If any family needs anything, they can call to the daycare or to purpose hands, and we will help. Doesn't matter. And what we are trying to do at the end of the year is be able to have at least help 500 families with the necessary things because they don't want to feel bad. They don't want to feel like, okay, I gotta go to a food bank or I gotta go do this. We want to be like, no, here it is, and we're gonna teach you how to keep this every year. And we want to increase it. This year we help, like I said, we help 50 families and 83 kids. Our goal at the end of this year is to help 500 at both locations and hopefully have enough to make sure that people know about this every year and move this forward. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:46

Yeah, and that's our and our goal with corporate development is too is to empower more families to um to really um expand our uh mentoring network where we have because we have attorneys on hand that want to be more of a mentor, more to want to be more of for individuals and young girls and your individuals that are looking to go into the law. We have interns that we're working with, trying to expand the capacity, and then we're just trying to just reach more people with our seminars and just providing that education. So we're we're planning to just do more of those mentoring moments because a lot of times we have to captivate people while they're there. So doing more mentoring moments where we bring our staff in for a um probably like a half-day workshop and then just come in and empower. So we're just trying to expand our reach.

SPEAKER_01 40:30

That's amazing, guys. If people want to uh learn more on their own, find you guys reach out, uh, where should they go?

SPEAKER_02 40:37

They can go to the website, Purpose Hands, or they can go to Kids Purpose Learning Center. Both are in the same location, so you can reach me through there, or they can go on the website and there is a form on there that they can pull out and we will call them back and help them with what they need and things like that.

SPEAKER_03 40:52

And our website is cdicorporate.org. We have individuals, I mean, we have information on there that provides um information about our programs, our upcoming events, as well as our partnership with uh Kids Purpose and Purpose Hands um organization.

From Survival To Empowerment

SPEAKER_01 41:07

Awesome, amazing. Eurena and Adelina with Thriveworks. Thank you guys so much for being here. If you guys have topics, if you guys have guests that you want us to talk about, talk to on Authentically Detroit, you can reach us on our socials at Authentically Detroit on Facebook, Instagram, uh, Twitter. You can visit our website at authenticetroit.com. All right. Time for shout-outs. I have a really special shout-out. You guys got any uh people that you want to give flowers to right at now in this moment? Uh Donna, I know you do.

Donna Givens Davidson 41:41

Don Lemon. Don Lemon, has anybody done a better job of changing their image? I remember a time when people used to call Don Lemon a sellout. And look at him. Look at him now, standing up, standing strong, being courageous. I think he did so much to help engage so many of us and help us understand in the lead up to Black History Month that this is our fight. These are our voices. I believe there were four journalists who were arrested, and they were all African American. But Don Lemon is the name we know. And so I really want to shout him out and thank him for um being courageous at a time such as this.

unknown 42:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:20

Yeah, I want to give a shout out to uh the Detroit Pistons head basketball coach JB Bickerstaff. He is the first coach uh to be named the All-Star Head Coach since Flip Saunders in 2005-6, I believe. That was the year that they lost to the Spurs in the finals. But you know, it's been a while since these Pistons have been good. Um can we get Jalen Burning? We have two all-stars and we have an all-star head coach. So shout out to that team and that organization. I got a bunch of good people that work there, Romelo, Faith. Shout out to you guys.

Donna Givens Davidson 42:58

We're going to a Pistons game on the 5th. Really excited as a community. We got 30 tickets. Oh, wow. Yeah, first week.

SPEAKER_03 43:07

Definitely want to definitely want to go and see and get go and support them. Yes, doing a great job.

SPEAKER_01 43:12

You guys got any shout outs? You get people you want to shout out?

SPEAKER_03 43:15

I I always shout out my mom because she's like the first person that did really kind of um set the groundwork for who I am. So I always shout out Barbara Coleman. That's my that's my girl. She's 82 and she she's she's the one who really kind of believed in even the dream of me becoming an attorney. She didn't she didn't shoot it down because I've never known had an attorney in my family, but she she pushed me. So I always shout her out.

SPEAKER_02 43:39

I would say my staff and my family, they've been my rock and my support through everything I go through in the last 10 years of being in this career.

Trust, Safety Nets, And Teaching Skills

SPEAKER_01 43:47

Awesome. All right, guys, thank you guys so much for listening to Authentically Detroit. Uh, we will be back next week. Donna, thank you. Uh, of course, you can find me, Sam Robinson, uh On Twitter at Samuel J Rob and on Instagram at Sam DrinksWater. Uh thank you guys.

unknown 44:28

It's so fine in the kitchen. I think so burn on the grill. I just forgot a bad deal.