Leonard Smith was a knowledgeable and respected foundation leader, dedicated steward, and mentor to many over his career. “I will be forever thankful for Leonard’s guidance and incredible mentorship over the years,” said Andrea Cole, President and CEO. His legacy in philanthropy is a lasting impact of dedication and service that the Flinn Foundation will honor and celebrate.
Leonard was involved in philanthropy most of his career, first as the attorney for the Skillman Foundation (1968-1983) and manager of the Ethel and James Flinn Foundation (1974-1983). He retired from law practice at Clark Hill to become President and Chairman of the Skillman Foundation (1983-1999). He guided the Foundation from its formative years with endowed assets of $180 million through the 1990’s as it became a recognized leader in dedicating resources to improving the lives of children in Metropolitan Detroit. At the time he retired from the Skillman Foundation, grantmaking had grown to $25 million per year and assets to over $620 million.
Leonard then devoted himself fulltime to the Flinn Foundation as Board Chairman (2000-2018), President (2000-2007), Chief Investment Officer (2008-2021) and Trustee (2000-2024). He fostered a more collaborative relationship between philanthropy and state government that led to significant improvements in mental health delivery and treatment outcomes in Michigan.
“Leonard’s leadership was a wonderful example of how to facilitate the delivery of mental health services for so many people throughout Michigan. He will be sorely missed,” said Board Chairman, the Honorable Freddie G. Burton, Jr.
Over the years, Leonard served and assisted many nonprofit and philanthropic organizations including the Council of Michigan Foundations as Trustee and Chair, Michigan’s Children as Founding Trustee and Officer, Youth Sports and Recreation Commission of Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park, as Founding Commissioner and Officer, the Grosse Pointe Park Foundation as founding Trustee and President, the Schools of the 21st Century Corporation as Founding Board Member and Officer, the City of Detroit as member of the Youth Commission, Wayne State University Skillman Center for Children as Executive Committee member, New Detroit, Inc. as Trustee and Youth and Education Committee member. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of Communities in Schools, the Community Leadership Council of United Way Community Services and the Investment Committee of the Wayne State University Foundation.
A remembrance reception will be held for Leonard Smith on Saturday, February 17, 2024 from 4:00pm to 6:00pm at the Country Club of Detroit, 220 Country Club Drive, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI.
Donations may be made to the East Side Youth Sports Foundation (formerly Grosse Pointe Hockey Association), the Thompson L. Smith Book Fund at the Taft School, or a charity of your choice.
East Side Youth Sports Foundation
4831 Canyon Street
Detroit, MI 48236
The Thompson L. Smith Book Fund
The Taft School
110 Woodbury Road Watertown, CT 06795-2100
Charita Cole Brown does not defy the diagnosis of bipolar disorder she received in her early 20s. But she does defy the verdict of how this serious mental illness (SMI) diagnosis could impact her life.
“I have a severe mental illness diagnosis. And I am living my best life. I want people to have hope and to understand they can live well,” says Brown, who serves as a board member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in Maryland.
In her memoir, Defying the Verdict: My Bipolar Life (Curbside Splendor Publishing, June 2018), Brown chronicles her experiences with bipolar disorder. She received her diagnosis in 1980 and experienced psychotic episodes in 1982 during her final semester at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. She wrote the book decades later in 2015 and it was published in 2018. Brown graduated from Wesleyan with a bachelor’s degree in English and went on to earn a master’s in early childhood education from Towson University in Maryland.
“For me (writing the book) was coming out and sharing my story,” she says, adding that many people live well with a bipolar diagnosis but tend to be among the “silently successful,” keeping quiet because of stigma. The phrase was coined by Kay Redfield Jamison, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medicine and author of several books, including An Unquiet Mind.
“Media coverage leads us to believe that people with mental health challenges are shooting up theaters and other venues. Many of these shooters are dealing with unexpressed anger. They do not have mental health challenges. People with mental health challenges are more likely to be victims than predators. This is one reason why it’s important for those living with mental illness diagnoses to tell our stories,” Brown says.
Brown tells her story for everyone, but mostly for college students and people of color. According to NAMI, the average onset age for bipolar disorder is 25, but it may occur earlier, which can be especially troubling for college students. because suicide is the second leading cause of death in this age group. Research estimates that between 25-60% of individuals with bipolar disorder will attempt suicide at least once during their lives.
Especially troubling is the fact that Black youth ages 5-12 are two times as likely to die by suicide as their white peers. These statistics have skyrocketed since the pandemic. “This is something serious that we have to look at in our communities and with our kids,” she says.
Brown is very clear that suicide was never an option for her because she carried with her the anti-suicide messages of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, where she attended elementary school. “What you teach children when they are young will live with them. Because I believe life is precious, that’s the message that I share. If today is a bad day, let’s live to see what tomorrow is going to be,” she says.
To help guard against suicide, Brown says we have an imperative to create spaces where people can feel safe — in their own skin and their own lives.
“Two women I know, T-Kea Blackman and Jordan Scott, helm a non-profit called Black People Die By Suicide Too and they’re doing wonderful, necessary work in the black community,” she says, adding that one of the founders, T-Kea Blackman, who has degrees from Howard and Georgetown, survived her suicide attempt and now advocates for awareness. “As successful college graduates, we can experience suicidal ideation,” says Brown.
Brown shares her lived experience of stigma from family members, from her husband’s family, even her beloved college faith community. But are we in a better place now than in the 1980s?
“I do not think we are. There is still a lot of societal stigma. And for me, there was a lot of self-shaming. Why didn’t I talk about it for 25 years? I didn’t want anyone to know,” she says.
As a society, we are still not at the point where most of us would feel comfortable sharing our diagnoses when we introduce ourselves. “We might be doing a little better. I don’t think it’s good enough,” she adds.
As individuals, we can decide how much we wish to disclose and to whom. “You don’t have to tell anyone at your job that you have a mental health challenge, just like you don’t have to tell them you have diabetes. It’s an illness,” says Brown.
In her book, Brown publishes her actual written diagnoses from her hospitalizations to point out the fact that even in the 1980s, it was a belief among physicians that “Black people were not smart enough or creative enough to have bipolar disorder,” she says. “African-American people whose symptoms aligned with a bipolar diagnosis would be misdiagnosed with schizophrenia.”
Brown is aware that bias exists in the medical community — and bias can impact the way individuals with mental health conditions are diagnosed and treated, even today.
So, when she launched her book, Brown stood alongside Dr. Karen Swartz of the Johns Hopkins Mood Disorders Clinic, who champions culturally sensitive approaches and teaches residents to be intentional in their understanding of how different cultures respond to matters related to mental health.
“Doctors create diagnoses based on observation as well as what clients share and compare this information to criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). People can be misdiagnosed and I believe physician bias still contributes to misdiagnosis,” says Brown.
In her role with NAMI, Brown shares her story about living with bipolar disorder as a Black woman to illustrate the expectations placed on Black women to “just keep going, no matter what.” She wants to see that change.
“We need to create a culture, i.e. how we do things around here, in which it’s OK not to be OK. When necessary, a person should be able to say, ‘I am not OK today,’ and then receive the necessary support.”
Learn more about Charita Cole Brown and purchase her book, Defying the Verdict: My Bipolar Life at chartiacolebrown.com.
Calvin Mann was working in a Ferndale, Michigan, child care center in 1992 when he recognized a stark truth: broadly speaking, boys are removed from education, even at the preschool level. Worse yet, the disparity between Black boys and their white counterparts is notable.
According to research from 2020, Black children are four times more likely than white children to be suspended or expelled from school by age 9 — and, by the same age, 37% of Black boys report having been suspended or expelled, compared to 10% of white boys.
Surrounded by young children, Mann realized the importance of parenting — fathering, particularly — for a child’s positive outcome. He created a goal to support the father-son dynamic through his nonprofit called Encourage Me, I’m Young (EMIY).
From a strong mental health perspective, Mann, who serves as president and founder of EMIY, says boys benefit from a father’s active presence. “Boys who don’t have their father to participate in the early process, cognitively, are impacted,” he says. “The daughter is too, but the boy is impacted more when he has no example in his home.”
Simply put, “society does not take care of its males,” Mann asserts. “If we’re not gladiators or sports athletes or inventors, just being an ordinary man is difficult, and boys see this. This is why, in my opinion, the ages of 5-11 being a suicidal issue for boys is a parenting issue.”
The “average male,” says Mann, feels as if the world no longer accepts them for who they are. Worse still, “our society tells black males that they’re solely responsible for murder in America. And that’s not true. The statistics show otherwise, but we don’t talk about that.” From news media to cop shows, the message is criminals are Black.
From a very young age, Black boys and their sense of self are shaped by these messages, to the point that many 15-year-olds don’t expect to still be alive by age 18, says Mann.
Through EMIY, Mann works to help boys see themselves as future men — who become husbands and then fathers — and recognize their value to their sons. “That’s why the boy in our work is so important,” he says. “To get the parents to 98% involvement and the understanding that there are things you have to do. You can’t get in the way of a boy becoming a man. You want him to be healthy, but you want him to have character and responsibility.”
EMIY also focuses on fathers who are not able to see their sons and are suffering as a result. “They can come and we can put them in a mentoring situation and watch them. Another kid who is not getting fathering can get fathering from them. It will help them and in turn, they have a better approach for how to deal with their children. That’s why we target fathers in our mentoring program,” he says.
These fathers participate in the EMIY Future Leaders Program, a 14-week, 28-session peer mentoring program for boys ages 8-13 that focuses on character pillars, financial literacy and respect. The boys also learn and actively practice mental health-supporting activities like mindful breathing.
“The breathing circles have turned these young men into peace. In all these years, I’ve never had a fight in my program,” Mann says, adding that what could be hostility is instead “I’m sorry,” and “Excuse me.” Directly after their breathing circle, the young men talk about their week — starting with good news. “When good news is the first thing, it teaches you cognitively to train your mind to let positive thoughts be your first thoughts.”
Parents, too, have a responsibility for the full support of the EMIY programs. A recent move toward a small participation fee ensures that all family members have buy-in. “So now, when you have to invest a little money and when you come into our mentor program, you’re signing up to do exactly what we ask you to do as a parent,” he says. This includes at-home evaluations so parents can see the change in the household dynamic.
“By the end of the program, our young men are speaking, talking, saying excuse me. They’re acting out the pillars,” he says, offering a recent example where the participants were challenged on one particular day to be as kind as possible. “Your job is to go to school, make sure you say good morning to your teacher, greet them nice and loud, and offer to help. And all I wanted was feedback from the reactions to their kindness.”
In 2024, EMIY will launch Reading IS Life, a literacy program for boys ages 3-7, which is part of a larger program called Boy Steps.
When young men come to EMIY but don’t have a participating father, Mann steps up. “I’ve surrogate parented hundreds of boys over the 39 years. I got them. We’re going to put them in the right thriving situations,” he says, adding that in 39 years, none of the boys has gone to jail and none has died by suicide. “From the mental health aspects, our boys are thriving.”
“We are now at a growth point in our work where we need more people. We need more funding. We need more resources. But we need more people to buy into family restoration through the boy,” Mann says.
From EMIY’s annual Respect Day to a fundraiser pancake breakfast, to the Smash Suicide Campaign, there are many ways people can participate and help improve the lives of Black boys and help fathers reach their fullest potential.
Learn more about all of the programs EMIY supports by visiting emiyworld.com.
In his 38-year career as a journalist with the Detroit Free Press, Jack Kresnak devoted two decades to reporting on issues impacting children. His focus included “juvenile justice, child maltreatment and the mental and physical health” of children, according to his bio.
Kresnak’s efforts did not go unnoticed. Before he retired from his journalism role, he was honored by the Michigan Supreme Court for the many reforms his work inspired. It was the first time the high court honored a journalist, and the resolution was unanimous.
During even a short conversation with Kresnak, he can reveal very specific details from the work he did researching and reporting issues related to young people and juvenile justice. The stories he wrote brought about systemic change.
“Beginning in January 1988, I raised my hand to cover juvenile court and it lasted 20 years. I knew nothing when I started. Juvenile court is completely different from criminal court and I learned as I went,” Kresnak says, adding that he worked hard to gain the trust of those who are typically suspicious of reporters.
“I was telling stories that were interesting and important and changed how things worked. It was clear what was not working well,” he says.
For context, this was the late 1980s and 1990s, when the system was overloaded with issues related to “crack cocaine and superpredators,” and kids were getting caught up. As a result, youth who got in trouble were sent to facilities as far-flung as Pennsylvania, Colorado and Iowa. Visits to some of these facilities with Wayne County’s Juvenile Court Judge Patricia Campbell helped Kresnak report on where these kids were being sent.
Wayne County, responsible for more than half of the state’s juvenile delinquents, decided to create a system to provide a more efficient and cost-effective way to reform kids who commit crimes or status offenses (things like not going to school or running away from home). Using an innovative computer program, the needs of each child and their parent are quickly determined and a network of private agencies are held accountable for outcomes. “It was a unique and accurate effort to determine a child’s needs,” Kresnak said. Populations of detention centers and training schools dropped dramatically, and juvenile crime decreased.
“There were so many mental health needs out there for children and for this system to succeed, it really needed to get through to the mental health issues,” he says. “Much of it was immaturity, but also trauma and how it impacts children.”
Kresnak continued reporting and sharing stories to shine a light on the needs of Detroit area families. He draws connections between “horrific” crimes kids were committing and the practice of designating children wards of the court because of abuse and neglect. He says it’s regrettable that no matter how much he reported on the horrible abuse a kid suffered as an infant or toddler, “it didn’t matter to legislature. They just put them in prison instead of getting help,” he says.
Inspired by Kresnak’s work, Detroit Free Press publisher Neal Shine in 1993 created a Children First campaign highlighting stories to, as Shine put it, “to get in the game” to improve the lives of Michigan children. One result came the following year when the state created the Office of Children’s Ombudsman empowered to review the confidential records of cases of maltreatment of children involved with Child Protective Services, foster care and adoption. “I got tons of calls for people to look into system failures and there was no way I could look into all of them. Now, I had a place to refer people to.”
The powers of the ombudsman were strengthened through “Ariana’s Law,” as a result of Kresnak’s series on the abuse and murder of 2-year-old Ariana Swinson. Political news of the 2000 Bush vs. Gore election threatened to overshadow the local story of a little girl removed from the custody of an aunt to be returned to her parents “despite their clear lack of abilities and drinking.” Still, the story remained on the paper’s front page each day.
Many articles, fellowships and many, many awards later, Kresnak retired from the Detroit Free Press in 2008 and served as president and CEO of Michigan’s Children, a nonprofit advocacy organization, until 2012.
During his years as a journalist, Kresnak reported on the work of the Skillman Foundation and particularly Leonard Smith, who was instrumental in establishing the foundation along with Rose Skillman in 1960 with a mission to transform K-12 education in Detroit.
Smith went on to lead the Flinn Foundation, working closely with current president and CEO Andrea Cole, who reached out to Kresnak to write about children’s mental health. Sadly, Smith died on January 21, 2024, at age 89.
Seeking his media expertise and judgment, the Flinn Foundation board members asked Kresnak to join the board as a Trustee. “They trusted my abilities and knowledge about the systems that deal with children. They thought I could bring a new voice,” he says. “I was thrilled. I love being on the board. It’s gratifying in a lot of ways and I look forward to continuing.”
As a small foundation, Kresnak says Flinn’s value is in enlisting partners to make effective change in the systems of the state and develop models that can be adopted nationally.
“Andrea is smart and engages with people in Michigan and around the country,” he says, adding that Obamacare helped lift mental health services into regular health care, “as it should be for everyone.”
Kresnak says he hopes through additional grantmaking, the Flinn Foundation can expand financial support to programs in broader geographic areas of southeast Michigan.
He also looks forward to helping Flinn pursue additional work in two areas: first, in the criminal justice system to appropriately treat those with mental health issues. “We’re working to grease the wheels to make sure not to incarcerate those who need treatment, because the issues just get worse, for children and adults,” he says.
Second, Kresnak looks forward to continued work with small agencies to support alternatives to homelessness, especially among veterans. “The whole system could use more public funding to improve access for those suffering, and there is a lot of suffering going on,” he says.
Kresnak wants everyone, particularly those who need access to mental health support, to know that the Flinn Foundation is there, fighting to make sure access exists.
“We are making sure as best as we can as a small funder to make sure the services you do get are appropriate and evidence-based and work to help people get through emotional traumas or mental illness,” he says. “We working to make systems better so that more and more people can get the help they need.”
In addition to his work with the Flinn Foundation, Jack Kresnak continues to write on a freelance basis. His first book, Hope for the City: A Catholic priest, a suburban housewife and their desperate effort to save Detroit, was published in 2015. Jack and his wife Diane have three children and five grandchildren.
When parents, grandparents and caregivers need information and support to solve problems or better understand something happening within their family, they could spend hours searching the internet — with results that may not be reliable or trustworthy, and certainly not customized to their specific needs.
Fortunately, The Family Center exists to help. With a vision to be “the first source for building connected, resilient families who thrive at every stage,” The Family Center links people to programs and resources that are important to them. This includes resources to help families improve and maintain family relationships and parenting skills — plus important mental health-related topics, including mental well-being, trauma and grief and substance misuse prevention.
The Family Center has seven school system partnerships, the support of more than 90 community partners and more than 100 programs and events available to 62,000 residents in Grosse Pointe and Harper Woods communities, with attendance topping 9,000. And, programs are free to attend and often hosted in community organizations that are convenient and welcoming.
“Our mission is to help build happier, healthier families. While we primarily serve the Grosse Pointes and Harper Woods, because we are not a physical center, our reach is far greater. Our resources are available for anyone, anywhere, 24/7,” says Executive Director Jennifer Bingaman. “We continuously seek to understand and support the diverse and emerging needs of our community by proactive empowerment, excellence in programming, building family skills and resilience, and promoting physical and mental health.”
When individual families need specific services, The Family Center can connect them to their Association of Professionals — a group of carefully selected providers, nonprofit organizations, local businesses and other supports.
The Family Center recently launched a new, enhanced website that provides curated information that families can trust. With expertise in the areas of crisis and emergency, special needs, recovery, family dynamics, housing and food support and other community resources, the website offers well-rounded and comprehensive information. An extensive “ask the experts” link offers additional advice from experts in the mental, physical and even legal fields.
“We believe that being curious and learning — about topics that are important to your family — are acts of love and hope,” explains Bingaman. “And, we support families of all kinds: biological or chosen, child-centered or adult-focused.”
The Family Center also leads the Healthy Grosse Pointe & Harper Woods Coalition, a collaborative effort between youth, parents, businesses, the media, schools, youth-serving organizations, law enforcement, religious and fraternal organizations, civic and volunteer groups, health care professionals and state and local agencies. The Coalition is focused on improving mental well-being in the community and to understanding and reducing substance misuse.
The Coalition and The Family Center also partner with local school districts and Kevin’s Song, a charitable organization dedicated to empowering communities to prevent suicide and offer healing to survivors, to coordinate an annual suicide prevention walk and mental health fair. In 2024, the 8th annual event will be held on May 11.
As coordinator of the Special Needs Resource Alliance, The Family Center gathers nonprofits, school systems and service providers to support individuals and families with special needs in southeast Michigan. Goals for the Alliance include raising awareness and developing social and educational opportunities for individuals and families. The Alliance’s second annual Special Needs Resource Fair was held in February 2024.
The Family Center also works with seven local school systems to provide 30 in-school programs to promote healthy coping skills and substance use prevention, plus a variety of custom topics for parents, families, students and teachers.
Preschool Playtime provides weekly social and learning opportunities for toddlers and families to combat isolation and pandemic-related developmental delays.
In response to the shooting on the campus of Michigan State University, The Family Center mobilized a crisis response by coordinating community grief centers staffed by local therapists. The Family Center also worked with CNS Healthcare to establish a hotline for those affected, as well as counseling resources to the Grosse Pointe Public School System and Grosse Pointe News.
The Family Center has hosted two wellness-focused book clubs with a panel of local therapists to discuss two selected titles.
And, since taking over leadership of the Coalition, The Family Center has:
Learn more about all the resources and initiatives of the Family Center. Visit their new website at FamilyCenterHelps.org.
Sexual assault can happen to anyone of any age and any gender at any time, and when it does, the experience is traumatic. Avalon Healing Center, a Detroit-based nonprofit focused on healing and empowerment for those affected by sexual violence, provides free, confidential services and is staffed 24/7. Avalon is the only program in southeast Michigan that provides comprehensive support focused solely on sexual violence.
“We often refer to ourselves as a one-stop shop here at Avalon, and we really find that it’s important to be able to provide as many resources as we can so our clients don’t have to tell their story again and again,” explains Katie Smith, director of communications at Avalon. Since opening in 2006, Avalon has helped more than 23,000 survivors of sexual violence.
“This comprehensive intake is intentional to not retraumatize a victim, and it’s integral to a trauma-informed approach to care”, adds Trinea Gonczar, Avalon’s director of engagement.
Avalon provides support to clients regardless of when they experienced sexual assault. If the assault was very recent, Avalon provides no-cost medical-forensic exams by a sexual assault forensic examiner to look for injury and gather evidence — performing about 700 exams in 2023 alone.
The client also meets with an advocate who continues to provide support throughout the healing process, including individual or group counseling and holistic therapies like art therapy, yoga, sound bath therapy and massage — even accompanying the client to court, if the client’s case goes to trial.
“We are a comprehensive service. Once you’ve seen us, we stay with you through the whole process,” says Smith, adding that each client’s path is individualized to their needs and wants. “Some people just want to have the evidence collected and they don’t want to go any further than that.”
With a focus on empowerment, Avalon supports the mental health of clients, which is critical at a time when it’s not always easy to find mental health support.
Clients who are experiencing trauma might be self-medicating or just trying to survive each day and having access to a mental health professional and a variety of healing therapies — yoga, gardening therapy, art therapy, even poetry — can be healing and empowering.
“We have clients who need services for years on end and we never turn them away. You can come and get support from us as long as you need it, and you can step away for a little bit and if you need to come back, that’s OK, too,” says Smith. “We always want to empower the survivor to make the choice for themselves of how they heal or how they take their healing path. We give them all the tools they need, all the resources they could utilize from us, and they make the choice of how they want to proceed, because that’s also trauma-informed care.”
To put the need in context, Gonczar refers to society’s heightened awareness of breast cancer and breast cancer survivors. Many of us know someone who has experienced breast cancer, but many more of us know someone who has experienced sexual assault.
“(Breast cancer is) 1 in 8. Sexual assault is 1 in 6. So, statistically speaking, the harsh reality is that someone in your circle has been sexually assaulted. Typically, they just have not disclosed this information. Naturally, based on privacy and concerns of victim blaming or shaming, coming forward about being assaulted is much less likely than someone that faces breast cancer,” she says.
Awareness of the prevalence of sexual assault, whether it happened yesterday or decades ago, gives the crime itself a face, says Gonczar. She speaks from her own search for support and her personal connection to Avalon Healing Center as a gymnast and survivor of sexual assault involving Larry Nassar.
“For us as an organization, if an assault happened to you 30 years ago and you were triggered by a case, or a song, or a visual or whatever, and all of a sudden you’re having reenactments or memories that are haunting you and you don’t know what to do, we’ll see you,” she says.
“The whole goal about a one-stop shop is to take away barriers for survivors,” Gonzcar says. Clients at Avalon can receive free mental health support from the behavioral/psychiatric health team, child care while receiving services, transportation to and from services, support in court, follow-up medical care and help with all the other needs that can become so overwhelming to the survivor that they often just give up.
“There’s no better way to protect our own community than to support the survivors and the victims to be able to get the people off the street that are causing harm to our community members,” she says. “Because, in fact, research shows that perpetrators are typically serial.”
Staff members at Avalon coordinate the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) for the Wayne County Sexual Assault Collaborative (WC SAC). WC SAC is a multi-disciplinary collaborative that works to improve overall response and continuum of care. WC SAC is victim-centered and offender-focused and is the best-practice standard for a multidisciplinary approach to sexual assault.
Avalon is currently in the process of fulfilling the goal of creating and providing a trauma-informed space that feels good to be in and is healing, and having flexible funding is important to meeting that goal. “Those dollars are so important to us because we are looking to make it better, to offer more for our survivors, to help them more, and then to make this model of care something that can be taken anywhere and implemented, because it’s necessary,” Gonczar says.
The organization has provided services to individuals as young as two weeks old to 101 yrs old, victims of sex trafficking, undocumented immigrants — anyone who has experienced any form of sexual violence — and, in addition, has been instrumental in supporting the over 11,000 individuals in Detroit whose rape kits went untested for years. Avalon is helping to develop solutions to these and other challenges, improving the standard of care for survivors of sexual violence. Avalon also actively participates in a strong network of partner organizations that provide specialized support for clients.
Knowing that Avalon exists is important because of the simple truth that any one of us will need Avalon’s support at some point in our lives, says Gonczar.
“I don’t mean to scare anybody, but it’s not a matter of if, It’s a matter of when you’re going to need our services in some capacity,” she says. “Whether it’s a friend, a neighbor, a daughter, a cousin or a brother. There are so many people that struggle and suffer in silence and don’t know where to go, don’t know what to do, don’t even know where to start or where to look.”
Knowing that Avalon exists and understanding the breadth of services available even before they are needed is empowering to every member of the community.
There’s a lot more to know about the many services and support provided by Avalon Healing Center. Visit avalonhealing.org.
Zaman International is an organization of empowerment. This is evident in the work the Inkster, Michigan-based nonprofit does as a whole — and it’s also reflected in the stories of employees and volunteers.
Monica Boomer, Zaman International’s Chief Impact Officer, is an example of empowerment. She spent just a brief moment doing administration work in Zaman’s office before moving on to coordinating volunteers and partnerships. She saw a need through this work and created a role, joining Zaman as the organization’s third employee, and is now one of more than 70 ‘Zamanitarians’ working at the Hope for Humanity Center.
To “realize a world where women and their children can break the cycle of poverty, and self-direct their futures,” Zaman International supports a variety of programs designed to empower the women they serve through wrap-around support and skills development that position clients to pursue sustainable employment that pays livable wages.
“Our only stipulation for the women and children we serve is that they are at or below the level of poverty for their family. Our average client is a single mother with two to three children living at or below $12,000 a year,” explains Boomer. For reference, the 2023 federal poverty level for a family of four is $30,000.
Zaman recognizes the women they serve benefit from extra support to bring stability to their lives so they can eventually pursue sustainable careers or income. This might be food and clothing, plus backpacks for the children, and it might be learning a new and marketable skill. “They see for themselves a desire to engage in educational programs and workforce development to break the cycle of poverty,” Boomer says.
Currently, Zaman serves 300 families in southeast Michigan each month — triple the pre-COVID number — and the majority are single women as the head of household. As special assistance programs provided during the pandemic are phasing out, Boomer says Zaman sees families experiencing increasing challenges, including unanticipated poverty.
At Hope for Humanity, Zaman’s headquarters in Inkster, families can receive food, clothing, shelter and other emergency relief through the organization’s flagship Bayt Al-Zahra program that includes a food pantry where families can choose nutritious, culturally appropriate foods.
To help women achieve sustainable futures, Zaman provides training programs to clients at no cost. The Building Opportunities Through Skills Training (BOOST) program provides direct instruction to build culinary, sewing and literacy skills — including financial and digital literacy.
“We offer strength-based programming, which means we help women discover the strengths they come in with and help them build on and maximize those skills in a trajectory that makes sense for them,” Boomer says.
For many individual reasons, not every learner will go on to work in a 9-to-5 role, and Zaman offers an entrepreneurial track to help learn business basics and the best platforms to market their goods. Learning the cottage food laws here in Michigan can help some entrepreneurs plot their course, for instance.
“At the end of the day, this is a group of women doing everything from going into business for themselves to working at the airport preparing food for passengers to working at Zaman because they feel comfortable here and they’re being paid a living wage,” says Boomer.
Direct mental health support for women has an effect on their families and children, too. That’s why it’s a significant part of the work at Zaman, says Boomer.
“We know that the stressors that poverty places on the women we serve and the trauma that so many of them have experienced can have a direct impact on their mental health and that of their entire family. When a mother falls, all too often, her children and household fall, as well,” she explains. “By alleviating the effects of poverty through basic needs provision and case management, by providing health and mental wellness services, and by helping women find pathways to sustainability, our programs have a multi-generational impact.”
In the summer of 2023, at the request of the State of Michigan, Zaman assumed responsibility for working with Welcome Corps, a U.S. Department of State program launched in 2023 to support groups of everyday citizens to sponsor incoming refugees. In this partnership, Zaman oversees the citizens’ work of helping newcomers sign up for assistance programs they are eligible for, helping them find and register in ESL classes and assisting them in enrolling their children in school, along with other activities that help settle refugees in their new communities.
“Welcome Corps provides everyday citizens with the opportunity to welcome newcomers to Michigan. We are proud to support these citizens and newcomers in our role as Lead Private Sponsorship Organizing in Michigan,” Boomer says, adding that this particular program holds a special place in her heart because it allows her to reconnect with the work Zaman does on the ground.
“It’s all external facing, and that aspect I really love,” she says. “I love knowing that Zaman’s specific approach to helping others is spread to these groups so that newcomers have an experience that comes with dignity, compassion and stewardship.”
While many people believe that charitable giving is about making a financial contribution with the hope that the money helps, Boomer wants people to know that there’s humanity behind philanthropy. “It’s not just putting a meal on the table and calling it a day,” she says. “Our funders are investing in the future of humanity.”
The individuals Zaman serves are the “heroes” in the equation. “They’re living on $1,000 a month with three children and they still find a way to support their families, and still come to class and attend workforce development,” she says. “Many are survivors of domestic violence, widows, refugees or new immigrants, and are willing to do whatever is needed for their family. What they may not realize is that they are inspiring others.”
This year, Zaman International is working to expand the workforce development programming and is looking for organizations to use industrial sewing services or purchase fresh-baked cookies from their Rising Hope Bakery or hire Zaman’s graduates.
“Zaman” means “time” in several world languages, and the organization itself was a vision that grew from one person’s belief in humanity, says Boomer. “Thirty years later, we’re helping 3.5 million people worldwide and 300,000 in southeast Michigan through little acts that come together for huge empowerment. We remember that we have limited time on Earth, but our actions can make a big difference.”
Learn more about Zaman. Visit zamaninternational.org.
For her entire career, Sue Perlin guided not-for-profit organizations to be fiscally strong. As a CPA Audit Partner with Plante Moran, Perlin worked with the Flinn Foundation, a client she served under the firm’s Not-for-Profit Services Group. After Perlin retired from Plante Moran in 2019, she was invited to join the Flinn Foundation Board of Trustees and stepped into the role in December, 2020.
The move from serving Flinn as a client to joining Flinn’s Board furthered a longstanding and trusted relationship.
“I really enjoyed serving Flinn as a client,” Perlin says. “They are doing such important work. I knew each Board member and the staff and was happy to work with all of them to try to expand on the work they are doing.”
As Perlin took her seat on the Flinn Board of Trustees, she brought with her a valuable skill set. She understands the financial structure of nonprofit organizations and, because she knows the majority of the organizations seeking grants, she recognizes how Flinn’s grantmaking activities can be of specific benefit.
Flinn’s work is important, says Perlin, because funding is needed, particularly for the evidence-based mental health support and practices that Flinn grantees prioritize.
“There is a mental health crisis and not enough money; there probably never will be,” Perlin says. “There has to be evidence-based programming and that’s what Flinn Foundation funds. I believe, that to truly make a difference, this should be expanded. One program that works in a small situation is great, but we have to be able to replicate it and expand it if we are going to get services to those who need them. There are many barriers to access and philanthropy can help remove barriers.”
While Flinn’s grantmaking model is straightforward, the organizations selected to receive grants help advance programming and access to care that can make a true difference. “What is key, I think, is doing the right grantmaking to the right organizations,” Perlin says. “That’s where the Board does the work to figure out where we think the grants can be made to have the most impact. Some programs we’re funding are unique and have the potential to become national models.”
Perlin, who currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Board, says she’s especially proud of the Flinn Foundation’s reach, thanks to the work of Flinn’s president and CEO, Andrea Cole, who she says is “well-known and respected in Michigan and nationally in this arena.” Because of this, Cole can leverage Flinn’s work and funding in collaboration with aligned foundations, government entities and universities for an even bigger impact. “We are a small foundation, but the impact is large because Andrea is able to bring large entities along with us and increase that impact, largely because of the work she has been doing for years. That appeals to me,” she says.
Perlin acknowledges the recent strides made in the mental health space and says that popular culture and media have helped to reduce the stigma of speaking openly about having and seeking treatment for mental health conditions. Schools, she says, are moving forward in helping students and individuals recognize how very common mental health challenges are.
“Among health care professionals, too, we have done some work with granting to help in the health care industry to build connections. It should be part of regular, basic health care services that mental health is on that continuum,” Perlin says.
Still, there’s more work to be done, and Perlin stands with the Flinn Foundation, ready to prioritize resources to further reduce the stigma surrounding mental health and increase access to care.
When she’s not advancing the work of the Flinn Foundation or the other nonprofit boards she serves, Perlin spends time at her home in Florida.
“I just returned from a beautiful bike ride. We have a place here and spend most of the winter here. We golf and really love the outdoors,” she says. She also helps care for her four grandchildren and has her sights set on returning to personal travel, which she opted out of during the thick of the COVID pandemic.