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Some of the significant issues we’re dealing with in Washtenaw County are also issues in communities around the state: affordable housing, senior citizen care, children in foster care and immigration. Samaritas is an organization serving those segments of our population throughout Michigan, including here in Washtenaw County. WEMU's David Fair spoke with its executive director, Heidi Raubenolt, about the local impacts today and the work that lay ahead in the future.

For more than 50 years, the Spectrum Center at the University of Michigan has been a leader in serving LGBTQIA+ students. The need remains, but the nature of the needs is changing. WEMU’s David Fair was joined by the director of the center, Jesse Beal, to look at the center’s role today and where it's headed.

That’s the sound of a fireworks display bursting open on Independence Day at a park near you. Have you ever thought about the art of fireworks? How do you make those colors and staged explosions that thrill young and old this time of year? Join Deb Polich, your "creative:impact' host, to meet fireworks enthusiast Kevin Paterson to find out—just in time for the Fourth of July.

For years, a 38-acre parcel of land in Ypsilanti along the Huron River has sat unused because of contamination. The Water Street property needs a developer that will take on the task of cleaning up the contamination and putting the land to beneficial use for the community. Ypsilanti City Council member Steve Wilcoxen joined WEMU's David Fair with an update on where that process stands and what comes next.

Education in lower income areas was already suffering, in part, because of underfunding. Then the pandemic hit, and some kids fell further behind. It has hit the Ypsilanti area particularly hard. Using anti-racist and positive teaching methods, Educate Youth is a summer program aimed at bolstering the academic prospects of kids in the 48197 and 48198 zip codes. Its founder and executive director, Gail Wolkoff, joined WEMU's David Fair with a look at the program impacts.

Ypsilanti-based SOS Community Services and its "Parents as Teachers" program helps parents learn how to foster healthy growth and development for their children. It's community building, one family at a time. Rhonda Weathers and Rana Smith head up the program and joined WEMU's David Fair to detail the program and its community impact.

For the second year in a row, giant billboard-sized artworks have sprouted in parks throughout Washtenaw County. "Embracing our Differences" is back in full bloom. Julie Brooks Malone and Chris Gant spend many days among the artwork greeting guests and telling them about the art on view. Students on tours, it seems, teach these docents as much in return. We find out what is shared when Julie and Chris join Deb Polich on this edition of "creative impact."

The protagonist of Hilary Cohen’s first murder mystery, "A Turquoise Grave," is looking forward to a tropical getaway but instead finds herself trying to prove a man is innocent of murder. Hilary, widely known as the playwright for the famed Wild Swan Theater, has turned her talents to the written page. Hilary talks about how becoming a novelist seemed like the natural next step for her creative career on the next edition of "creative:impact" with Deb Polich.

Washtenaw Clean-up Days are here! If you have bulk waste, old appliances, household hazardous waste or electronics that need to be disposed of, this is your time. Washtenaw County director of Public Works, Theo Eggermont joined WEMU's David Fair to discuss how you can participate and keep these materials out of the landfills and better protecting our environment.

It has been said that art doesn't just decorate our lives but gives us reason to live. For some inmates in a University of Michigan program, those words ring true. "Humanize the Numbers" is part of the U-M's Prison Creative Arts Project. The incarcerated are discovering creativity and learning about themselves, and the program is having an impact not only on the inmates, but on the students from Ann Arbor that work with them. The program is led by lecturer Isaac Wingfield. WEMU's David Fair spoke with Isaac and José Burgos, who participated in the program prior to his release from prison.