Bright Futures Partners with uniteSTEM to turn the Lights on at YpsiGLOW

10/05

All the Bright Futures’ sites are working on luminary projects that will be shared at YpsiGLOW which is an annual celebration of local creativity, artistry, and glowing creations produced annually by Wonderfools Productions. Will Spotts, one of Bright Futures Assistant Directors, said “Trevor Stone is an artistic associate for Bright Futures and based on his existing experience with Wonderfool Productions has been a great asset in getting students and sites involved with this year's ypsiGLOW.” Bright Futures has been participating with YpsiGLOW since the beginning. Will went on to share, “It gives a sense of community, belonging, and fun. There is less fun these days and more angst, so I think being part of something that all of our sites are participating in provides an opportunity for students to get out of their own school, neighborhood, and meet students from other Bright Futures Programs.”

The projects that Bright Futures students build will be on display not only at the upcoming YpsiGLOW celebrations, but also at Lights On Afterschool. This year, Bright Futures’ Ypsilanti sites will be reintroducing themselves to the community in a big way, by participating in the 23rd Lights on Afterschool National Advocacy Day. Launched in October 2000, Lights On Afterschool is the only nationwide event celebrating after school programs and their important role in the lives of children, families and communities. Bright Futures is excited for community members to connect with their programs and get to know who Bright Futures truly is and their impact in the community.

Will looks forward to the opportunities students are offered from ypsiGLOW along with uniteSTEM’s help. “It's nice to be able to think again about both big picture stuff and all the ground level partnerships. This type of partnership allows for a lot of tension between big and small which is very exciting! Before the pandemic, we hit a sweet spot where we could do this stuff regularly, and this feels almost like a step back towards an integration into an established community event; which is something that we were really good at.”

If you are a teacher, staff member, or family member of a student in an Ypsilanti Bright Futures program, consider attending the Lights On Advocacy Day celebrations happening Thursday, Oct. 20th. To see the students’ luminary projects in action, stop by ypsiGLOW happening in Downtown Ypsilanti on Friday, October 28th. If you want to get involved with ypsiGLOW click this link to learn more about their volunteering opportunities.

Engage@EMU is the University’s outward facing office charged with cultivating relationships and initiating and/or coordinating community and business partnerships and programs. To learn more about our office, please visit https://www.emich.edu/engage/index.php.

Bridging Communities through National Night Out

08/22

NNO was hosted at Rutherford Pool on Congress St. and Joe Rutherford wanted everyone to have access to the pool for this event so he blocked off time for it and offered free access to the residents. Shuttles were provided that gave free rides to residents from each of the housing sites to the pool, making the event much more accessible. One of the residents photographed the entire event and there were numerous vendors in attendance including a DJ, Childcare Network and The Grill Master who provided tasty food. There were also plenty of activities for families such as bounce houses, an ice cream truck kickball, a 360 photo-booth, and bubbles, which were a huge hit! Sauk Trail, Towner, and New Parkridge also collaborated to host a cake walk featuring delicious cakes made by local bakers. In addition to the residents and management staff, local police officers, firefighters, and Congresswoman Debbie Dingell all attended the event.

NNO culminates on the first Tuesday of August and according to natw.org, it “is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie.” When asked why participating in this national movement is important, Christa shared, “It’s important for surrounding communities and our residents to engage. It’s very important for community organizations to come out and show that they are in support of us having fun. There is a message in our community that there are too many rules and regulations. In our communities, the smallest thing can draw attention to us, when we are just trying to enjoy each other and be out in the community. You don’t see that happening in the suburbs.” For more information on National Night Out, please visit https://natw.org/

Engage@EMU is the University’s outward facing office charged with cultivating relationships and initiating and/or coordinating community and business partnerships and programs.

Ypsilanti Intergenerational Community Solutions Institute Coming Soon!

08/22

The YICSI will create a space for shared learning and design thinking among key stakeholders to advance intergenerational initiatives that will lead to more equitable health benefits and resources across the generations. This project will bring together a cross-sector of representatives from the city, including younger and older people, to identify and address essential public health priorities and solutions through an intergenerational lens. The YICSI will focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the make-up of participants, communities engaged, and program design. The YICSI will offer a new set of approaches, highlighting intergenerational programs, policies, and practices and facilitating collaboration among participants. This project intends to bring together representatives from neighborhoods, relevant nonprofits, government, key institutions, and younger and older people, to learn about intergenerational strategies and design and implement solutions that benefit all generations.

This institute will build on the promising intergenerational foundation we have established in the city over the past few years. Engage@EMU and YSC have formed a number of creative collaborations designed to bring together younger and older people. Examples include the Digital Connecting Corps, an intergenerational digital literacy program between EMU occupational therapy students, UM work study students, Engage@EMU & UM staff, and older adults where students serve as tech coaches for older adults, and ReGen Storytelling,an intergenerational virtual storytelling collective that creates a shared space for older and young people to co-create stories. These examples as well as other intergenerational models from around the state and the country will serve as inspiration for expanded intergenerational collaboration in Ypsilanti.

We will design and deliver a series of 6-8 workshops that will provide training on intergenerational issues and best practices in intergenerational program development but also include facilitation and time for collaborative planning and design thinking. Potential workshop topics include building effective partnerships, recruiting participants, designing activities, preparing youth and older adults, and evaluating impact. We will also provide an overview of intergenerational community solutions such as health and wellness, food and nutrition, climate change, gardening, literacy, mentoring, workforce development, technology, arts, and transmission of cultural traditions and knowledge.

This project will help solidify the foundation for ongoing work in the City of Ypsilanti with both intergenerational and public health perspectives. The YICSI will train and prepare a network of new intergenerational champions in Ypsilanti each with a clear understanding of intergenerational community solutions and action plans to improve health outcomes for younger and older people through intergenerational collaboration.

More information on how to participate in YICSI is coming soon!

“I found I could say things with color and shapes that Ii couldn’t say any other way – things I had no words for.” – Georgia O’Keeffe

Embracing Our Differences SE Michigan is a nonprofit organization in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, Michigan that uses the power of art and education to expand consciousness and open the heart to celebrate the diversity of the human family. The Office of Engage@EMU is a proud partner helping to support Embracing Our Differences first summer in Washtenaw County.

Embracing Our Differences SE Michigan uses the transformative power of art combined with an educational curriculum to celebrate diversity. The centerpiece is a juried, outdoor exhibit featuring 50 billboard size images created by local, national and international artists, writers and students reflecting their interpretations of the theme “enriching our lives through diversity.” Beautiful, breathtaking and insightful artwork on the themes of diversity, equity and inclusion are selected from submissions from around the world as well as from local artists. Come see them at Riverside Park and Parkridge Community Center Park in Ypsilanti, and Gallup Park, Leslie Science Center Park in Ann Arbor.

This program has been presented in Sarasota, Florida for 19 years. Through the generosity of the Sarasota organization and their interest in spreading these teachings, our community has been offered the art, the curriculum, their guidance, wisdom and experience to launch the program here in Washtenaw County. The vision Embracing Our Differences has is for, “A society that embraces differences, builds respect and celebrates the diversity of the human family.”

Morning and afternoon tours are available for school and camp groups this summer! For more information on booking a tour, please email emu_engage@emich.edu

To learn more about Embracing Our Differences SE Michigan, click here to visit their website.

Christa and Myra worked tirelessly to connect with organizations for the event, relying on established partnerships, and making use of this opportunity to foster new connections. Christa said, “Wellness is one of those things that intertwined with so many other areas. I want to hear more about that because that’s where the different routines come in, how you socialize, exercise, diet, etc.” In a holistic effort to approach wellness, they had representation from many different organizations at the event including Corner Health Center, Catholic Social Services, MI Works! Southeast, Ypsiwrites, and Ypsilanti District Library. In attendance was Angela Combs of THRIVE from the Multicultural Health Program at Michigan Medicine; and Michigan Medicine’s Billing Department provided resources for medical debt support. The event began with a presentation from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI Washtenaw County) on mental health and how to be a support for mental health and breaking the stigma surrounding it. It made a significant impact on the lives of those who attended and some of the residents even signed up for NAMI classes after watching the presentation.

There were 14 support organizations at the fair offering services that ranged from health, to literacy, counseling, and so much more. In order to help facilitate conversation between residents and the organizations Christa and Myra provided questions on the back of the flyers that residents could use to initiate conversations and learn about resources. In reflecting on the value of events like this, Christa shared, “It’s very important, it’s why we operate to connect residents to those resources. There’s only so much we can do with case management but to actually provide the resources to a resident, in-person is so important. If we can get information out there then they are going to start a conversation with me about what they are learning and how it relates to them. I am then able to advocate for that resource, but most importantly I’m advocating for the residents and their access to resources that can improve their overall quality of life.” The FEP intends to host the wellness fair event again in 2023, but plans to make it a public event for anyone in Washtenaw County interested in wellness.

For more information on the Family Empowerment Program, please visit https://www.emich.edu/engage/community/family-empowerment-program/index.php

Engage@EMU is the University’s outward facing office charged with cultivating relationships and initiating and/or coordinating community and business partnerships and programs. To learn more about our office, please visit https://www.emich.edu/engage/index.php.

For previous STEM Days the focus has been on bringing together the different departments that make up STEM, but this year’s activities will be different. This year the light is shining on the E in STEM for this Engineering focused STEM Day Olympiad. Upward Bound is partnering with the GameAbove College of Engineering & Technology to offer a day full of friendly competitive activities that delve into the nuances of engineering. ​​Engineering activities are invented, managed, and staffed by student clubs from the college: Baja, National Society of Black Engineers/NSBE, Society of Women Engineers/SWE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers/IEEE.

When speaking with Biyi Akinlude, Upward Bound’s Program Coordinator, he mentioned that focusing on engineering was a natural evolution of the team’s planning and partnerships for this year’s STEM Day. However, the choice to transform the day into an olympiad was intentional. Biyi said, “This year, because we're dealing with technical things, and largely because of what I wanted to bring into it, given that engagement is difficult during this period, where students need to really be engaged, and many of our students as I know them, they love a good challenge. So when you tell them that, oh, it's a competition, you know, they want to one up each other, but in a very, of course, friendly way, but in a way where it brings out the best in each of them. I think it's going to foster a good environment of learning.” Students will learn different areas of engineering, create something, compete with their creation, and the college student mentors will choose the winners.

For more information about EMU STEM Day 2022 or Upward Bound, please click here!

Since its beginning the DCC has worked with Digital Inclusion, an EMU Social Enterprise, to distribute over 25 free laptops to older adults. This is in part due to a generous device donation from Toyota. In the eight weeks since the in-person component was fully launched, we have also led eight workshops at the Ypsilanti Senior Center and been able to connect with more than 45 seniors from Washtenaw County and beyond. Week one had two participants, and by week six the staff started a sign-up sheet in order to control class sizes.

College students undergo training through KovirTech in order to serve as Tech Coaches and provide direct support to local seniors in the form of individualized coaching, group classes, and presentations. Current EMU Occupational Therapy students Sophie Casanova and Tessa Osborne serve as Tech Coaches at the Ypsilanti Senior Center. As the program recruits more students from both EMU and UM it intends to expand service offerings to senior centers in both Chelsea and Milan. In the future, DCC plans to establish a service support line that older adults can call for technology assistance outside of the regular DCC hours at their senior center.

To read about it is one thing, to experience it is another. Access to technology is essential and week after week the DCC staff cultivate relationships with the older adults who participate and celebrate the milestones they reach together. The program provides a valuable opportunity for students and a vital resource for our local older adult community.

A few examples of what the older adults are working on with the Tech Coaches are:

• Accessing patient portals for Telehealth and attending virtual medical or mental health appointments

• Designing digital birthday party invitations

• Setting up Gmail to connect with family and friends across the country

• Transferring photos from phone to laptop and vice versa!

Last month Upward Bound hosted another dynamic Summer Academy for 20 students culminating in a showcase of their achievement and a much-needed day of fun at Cedar Point. Summer Academy was again virtual this year and traditionally offers courses in core subjects that strengthen academic skills and abilities during high school. Students may also earn high school credit upon successful completion of these courses. In addition to coursework, a variety of academic, social and cultural activities are planned to introduce members to new experiences that enhance self-esteem, provide opportunities for personal growth and development, and build social skills.

In the virtual space students had the opportunity to sign up for three workshops of their choice out of a wide array of options including: art, cooking, entrepreneurship, personal finance, social media photography, poetry, sign language, virtual reality, strength and conditioning, yoga, and cardio/core fitness. These workshops were made possible through the many community partnerships Upward Bound has cultivated with organizations like Be Creative Studio, EMU Rec-IM, EMU Simulation Animation & Gaming, Washtenaw County Racial Equity Office, JumpStart Clearinghouse, Entrepreneurship Center at Washtenaw County Community College, and EMU Summer Camps.

At the Virtual Summer Academy Closing Ceremony students took ownership of the work they did by sharing poetry about resilience and mental health, pictures of delicious dinners they cooked themselves, and much more. Instructors shared stories about student success and many students were recognized by earning individual awards. Congratulations to each of the students on their own personal achievements during Virtual Summer Academy 2021! Great work and huge thanks to the staff, instructors, and community partners who collaborated to make this program happen. For more information on Upward Bound and this program please visit their website.

Operation Opportunity Opens Doors for Bright Futures Students

08/22

Operation Opportunity, a partnership between Eastern Michigan University Bright Futures, Michigan Medicine, and Wayne-Westland Community Schools is a youth mentorship program designed to educate Wayne-Westland first generation college bound students about the many career paths in the medical field through site visits and mentorship. The majority of students participating in this program come from low-income families and will be the first in their family to attend college. The program was founded five years ago by Dr. Lynn Malinoff, EdD, Director of EMU Bright Futures, and Heather Wurster, RN, MPH, Chief Administrative Officer of Medical Affairs from the U-M Office of Clinical Affairs.

Traditionally, Operation Opportunity gives students the opportunity to visit numerous departments, units, and many various sites at Michigan Medicine. Due to the pandemic, students were not able to visit the various facilities, so instead monthly zoom sessions were held over 10 months with each session featuring a presentation from a different department at Michigan Medicine including: Office of Clinical Affairs, OB/GYN, Cardiology, Unit for Laboratory and Animal Medicine, Orthopedics, Community Health, Genetic Medicine, Health Information Systems, and Faculty Development. Dr. Lynn Malinoff said, “We all learned to just make it work. The commitment of all three organizations - Michigan Medicine, the Wayne Westland Community Schools and EMU Bright Futures is unwavering. We added more mentoring and organized an alumni group of Operation Opportunity graduates who support the program and each other. These elements will become integral to the program moving forward, whether virtual or in person.” These virtual presentations offered students the opportunity to ask questions, learn about how these professionals made it to their current positions, and see a glimpse behind the white lab coats. Kathryn Bigelow, a recent graduate of John Glenn High School, attended Operation Opportunity her senior year and these monthly presentations opened doors for her. She said, “I was able to see a different side of medicine that I hadn't seen before, because it's like, you go to your primary care doctor, but you're more of a patient, right? Then you see TV, doctor shows, but that's all drama, that's not really real. So getting to talk to the doctors, getting a real sense of their path through college and learning from their failures, and getting that advice that they wish that they knew when they were just starting out, and being able to learn from all that knowledge was really awesome.” Kathryn starts college at University of Michigan Dearborn this fall studying data science and information systems.

Operation Opportunity also traditionally includes events geared towards mentorship-like question and answer sessions, however, the pivot to a virtual program also presented the opportunity for the program to rework its approach to mentorship. This time, at registration students were asked to rank different departments that they would like to meet with one-on-one. Khushi Patel, a recent graduate of Wayne Memorial High School, is one of the many students who benefitted from this new mentorship model. She said, “I ranked someone from the office of clinical affairs, the administrative department, and someone getting their master's in public health. Then I had three mentors, and they would email me and we would set up monthly chats to come on zoom and talk to one another. That kind of broke the barrier of not being able to build a connection and that was helpful, because I got close with my mentor. I know some of my friends who got really close with their mentors and that taught us how to ask good questions and how to advocate for ourselves.” In the fall, Khushi is attending Brown University with plans to pursue a double concentration, one of those being public health.

Programs like this make inaccessible careers seem possible for students who come from low-income families or who are the first generation college students. Kathryn said, “With a lot of low income or first generation students, it's hard to envision yourself pursuing these more high stakes careers. So being a doctor, or a high level administrator, sometimes it's just hard to think I can do that too. So when participating in these types of programs it's nice to see that there are people just like me out there and they got to these awesome positions, and I can use their experiences as a guide to help me end up in the same place.” These programs address gaps in knowledge, experience, and networking that some first generation and low income students often face. Khushi explained, “I'm first gen and low income and like one thing that I realized that I guess I didn't have the privilege of knowing was, for example, a lot of my friends who are also going to Brown, they have parents who are doctors. Both of them are doctors and so they get a lot of this learning at home, these conversations happen at the dinner table. We have to sign up for a program to get the information that they get every day. So they're already one step ahead. But what these programs do is that they level the playing field a little bit. These higher income more privileged individuals already have a laundry list of summer programs that they're going to be doing, while (first generation and low income) students, we have to worry about what's the cost, do they offer full financial aid, stuff like that. Sometimes that takes up a lot more time than even being able to be interested in the program in the first place. Operation Opportunity is free, if we were in person, they would offer a bus from our school all the way to Michigan Medicine, they would offer free meals, everything would be covered which gives me the feeling of, okay, I can enjoy this program without having to worry about some of these other things. It builds that bridge.”

Operation Opportunity is in the midst of preparing for its seventh cohort with plans to continue the success that it has been cultivating since 2016. Dr. Lynn Malinoff explained, “What is very exciting to the planning committee and anyone associated with the program is this, we now have several students who have been accepted to medical school, others who are in public health, Physician Assistant programs and many related medical tech and support programs. The program provides hope and a vision for what is possible. It is working! Our students understand the needs of the underserved population and they will carry the voices of others who feel voiceless in their work in medicine and related fields. They will change the medical world for the better.”

To learn more about EMU Bright Futures or Operation Opportunity please visit the Bright Futures Website.

Amplify Projects Now Streaming!

07/22

The Amplify Fellowship was created during the summer of 2020 by educator and EMU doctoral student Rod Wallace and Maia Evans from Leon Speakers to engage musicians in community service in exchange for recording and production support. Compelled by the continuing social injustices against African-Americans, Leon Speakers and Grove Studios (where Wallace supports the coordination of educational programming) partnered to support the idea with funding and resources to eliminate the barriers for Black musical artists in Washtenaw County. Barriers that exist not only at the start of a creative endeavor Rod explained, “We found there was also a lack of resources in terms of what comes out of your project. When people create music projects, they end up having to give up a great deal of their rights. They may have to sell their publishing, give up ownership of their masters and things of that nature. We gave the artists complete ownership over everything.”

Each fellow (Kenyatta Rashon, London Beck, and Dani Darling) released projects during the month of June which also coincided with Black Music Appreciation Month. The artists engaged with the media and creative arts community in southeast Michigan in a way that augmented collaboration across the board. In addition, their service to the organizations Do You See What I See, Neutral Zone, and Safe House Ann Arbor allowed those agencies to continue to provide great service to the county's citizens during COVID. The fellows were able to choose which organizations they wanted to serve. In speaking about the benefits of these collaborations Rod said, “Organizations benefit from creating a different and nuanced relationship to the communities they claim to serve. The artists who are fellows are from this community. So those artists have the ability to inform these community organizations about what is needed out there; and be able to go into those environments to say, hey, these people have the right idea. So I think that it's beneficial to a community organization, as much as it is beneficial to the community at large, as well as the artist.”

To support the artists stream their projects or watch the Amplify Kickback Series. Amplify Kickback, is part of a series of shows, concerts, and panel discussions centered around the support of community organizations in Washtenaw County. The Amplify fellows are featured, and the community organizations they have chosen to support receive part of the proceeds from the ticketed events. Each Kickback was live streamed - recordings are available to watch here.

The Fellowship continues to seek funding and community partnerships to broaden the engagement and expand the experience for the second cohort of fellows starting this fall. Artists who are above the age of 18, lived in Washtenaw County for the last year and will continue to for the next year are eligible to apply for the next cycle. Amplify looks forward to providing additional support to the music community and organizations that support those in need.

Want to know more about the Amplify Fellowship? Click the links to learn more!

• https://www.secondwavemedia.com/concentrate/features/amplifyfellowship0587.aspx

• https://www.ecurrent.com/music/grove-studios-new-fellowship/

• https://www.wemu.org/term/amplify-fellowship

• https://www.instagram.com/amplifywashtenaw/

• https://www.facebook.com/theamplifyproject/videos/?ref=page_internal

Courtney completed her Bachelor’s of Science in health administration and social work at EMU. Upon graduation, Courtney served as a college and career transition coach through the Michigan College Access Network at a high school in Metro Detroit. She went on to receive her Master’s degree from EMU in higher education student affairs with an academic advising certificate. While pursuing her Master’s she served as a graduate assistant with the Holman Success Center (HSC) for the Sisterhood Initiative. In that position she was responsible for teaching the UNIV 179 course. In teaching that course she had the opportunity to work with a cohort made up entirely of students who are women of color. Courtney said, “I’ve always had several things happening at one time.” It is very true, while she was a GA with the HSC she also worked as a success coach for the Community Scholars Program. In her professional career she has also worked with Wayne State University through their Apex program which is a transition Bridge program for conditionally admitted students. At Saginaw Valley State University Courtney worked for their Morris Hood Jr. Educator Development Program state funded through King Chavez Parks grant program.

Currently, Courtney is a Ph.D candidate in Central Michigan University’s educational leadership program with a focus on higher education. She says, “My focus is looking at Black and Brown students and their experiences in predominantly white institutions, and what that looks like for them in regards to their sense of belonging.” Courtney’s personality shines through the work she engages in and her studies are no different. Of her doctoral research, she said “I’m trying to throw in there, what’s really near and dear to me, and what’s helped through all of my educational journeys, which is hip hop, and how hip hop culture plays a role in the lives of all students who wish to engage with it. Specifically, how it plays a particular role in Black and Brown students' lives as they’re navigating predominantly white spaces of higher education.”

A wealth of experience and knowledge aren’t the only things Courtney is bringing to this position. She said, “I think that being passionate is in some regard a level of expertise, right? The work that we're doing requires people to go the extra mile. I call that grind, right? So I'm bringing a level of grind and hustle because I know that it requires me to go into overtime. I work really well with high school students in the sense that I'm able to communicate with them on their level. I think sometimes that takes a level of expertise too. I have to be able to use the same lingo, so I have to be able to kind of be hip to the same music or to fashion trends that are happening, so that I can start those conversations and they can begin to trust me in some kind of way, besides just the lady that comes in just talks college and drops all of this boring stuff, or important, non-fun things with them. I want to make sure that those conversations are fun, so I can get them through the door.” When asked what she hopes for the future of Upward Bound as they close out one school year and embark on another, she said “I am hoping that we are able to continue, because I know that they’ve been doing great work even before I came on board, but to continue to build a foundation that is strong enough for tomorrow’s leaders to come through the pipeline.”

For more information on Upward Bound please visit: https://www.emich.edu/upwardbound/