In 2009, the Wayne County Prosecutor made a horrifying discovery: 11,341 untested “rape kits” were found in a Detroit Police Department storage facility. The shocking quantity of sexual assault cases was combined with the harsh reality of an inadequate system to process them, making it necessary to find a way to address the problem with real, workable change. But, so far, only one Michigan county has come up with a way to reduce the chance of victims falling through the cracks. One county in the nation has found a way to build bridges of support, linking resources for victims through collaboration between the YWCA Victim Advocates, local government agencies, along with hospitals, to focus on the survivor’s well-being – and that one county is Genesee.
About four years ago, Sheila Crider had an experience that changed her life forever. More than anything, she disliked driving on snow-covered or icy roads. But she saw nothing threatening about the weather on a cold, winter day in January when she left her Fenton home to go to a Bible study. “I was driving on U.S. 23 and hit a patch of black ice,” she recalls, and after losing control of the vehicle, she crashed head-on into a tree. Her injuries included major damage to her pelvis and sacrum. “The doctors at Beaumont Hospital put me back together,” Sheila remembers, with tears in her eyes. She had always been active and strong, but nothing could have prepared her for the physical pain she endured. “I was a runner and a weightlifter. It was extremely humbling to have to use a walker.”
Forge Flint is connecting people together to help the city move forward. Matthew Soulia, Executive Director and Founder of the non-profit organization, is fulfilling a calling by helping to make that happen.
The number of homeless youth in Genesee County is staggering. The total count for homeless children in Flint/Genesee County equals 699: 651 of the them are with their families and the remaining 48 are unaccompanied.* Through REACH and Traverse Place, kids and families are getting the assistance they need to lead successful, fulfilling lives.
Human trafficking is happening in every state in the U.S. and every country across the planet. It is an approximately $32 billion industry worldwide. In the United States, between 100,000 and 300,000 children are at risk for sexual exploitation. In Michigan, 220 cases related to human trafficking were processed by the FBI in 2015 and 62 cases were reported to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center in January-March 2016. Of those thrust into the commercial sex trade, approximately 3% are kidnapped, 62% are lured in, and 35% are sold by their own family members. The average age of girls affected is between 11 and 14 years old.
Kenyetta Dotson, founder of WOW Outreach, a Flint-based community action group, believes that everyone can make a contribution – big or small, of time or talent – to improve distressed Flint neighborhoods. “Every contribution is important,” she says. “However you decide to help and reach out to people right where they are is crucial. Maybe it’s as simple as delivering drinking water to homes, or maybe you make a pot of chili, buy or bake cookies, knit blankets or create handmade cards that offer someone encouragement, it’s all important work.”
For many people, the work they do is a defining factor of their character. But having a job means even more to the most vulnerable of us – it means independence. The Vocational Independence Program (VIP) Work Center, located on Van Slyke Road in Flint, is a place where adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities receive vocational training, help with social and living skills and securing employment through one of many work programs. Max Gelanter has been the Executive Director of the non-profit organization since 1974. The organization itself has been around since 1954, and is funded primarily by the Genesee Health System through Medicaid dollars.
For more than 30 years, Betty Rathfon, LMSW, ACSW, Director of Child Welfare and Home Based Services at Catholic Charities in Flint, has served the needs of children. “My passion is helping children and families,” says Rathfon, who grew up in a nurturing, loving family environment and believes her early learning in the area of family values stems from observing her parents, who were exemplary role models. “My nuclear and extended family members definitely valued children and their well-being,” she says. “Those beliefs and values carried into the profession I chose – social work.”
For over 20 years, Yvonne Penton has worked with young girls who are pregnant and on their own. “I was a teen mom,” she says. “People make bad choices all of the time; but someone helped me, and I let them.” Now, she is CEO and Founder of The House of Esther, a maternity educational care center that offers hope, education, encouragement and support to girls who find themselves in this same situation.
Homelessness can happen to anyone – a person you see in the grocery store, the server at a restaurant where you eat, or a child in school. “There is quite a misconception about what homelessness looks like,” says Lindsay Moore, Network Director of Family Promise of Genesee County. Family Promise is a national non-profit organization that takes a community-based approach to solving the problem of homelessness. In a joint effort, local communities and churches cooperate to help homeless families stay together. Family Promise provides resources, support and training as the families work to become self-reliant.
George F. Grundy II, Afghanistan: Operation Enduring Freedom, service-related disabled veteran and U.S. Marine, never imagined he’d have an address of his own – or be the founder of two businesses. Thanks to Genesee County Habitat for Humanity and General Motors, Grundy lives and works at 608 W. Court Street, where he is in the beginning stages of launching “The Home Advantage Group,” which is comprised of his photography business and is also is the hub of Veterans of Now (VON) – an organization which helps veterans reintegrate into civilian life.
