Resources:
Sarah Rigg's Feature Article: Ypsi schools’ Resiliency Center expands significantly over five years serving families in need
Ypsilanti Community Schools (YCS)
YCS Resiliency Center & Homeless Youth Program
Transcription:
Lee Van Roth: You're listening to 89.1 WEMU. I'm Lee Van Roth, and this is On the Ground Ypsi. At Ypsilanti Community Schools, the Resiliency Center has grown into one of these spaces that really is making a difference in our community. Since its start, the center has expanded from a single room into a multi-room resource hub, offering clothing, hygiene supplies, internet access, and connections to community services for hundreds of families each year. Joining me to talk about the Center's history, its work today, and what it means for families in Ypsilanti is its director, Cherisa Allen. Cherisa, thank you so much for being here today!
Cherisa Allen: Thank you for having me!
Lee Van Roth: So, to start us off, can you talk about how the Resiliency Center first came to be back in 2020 and what the sort of needs the center was hoping to address at that time?
Cherisa Allen: So, in 2020, when COVID hit us, my superintendent had this idea that we needed our families to have a space, a one-stop shop space, so they can come in and get all the items they need. We did have the clothing closet located at the old Chapel School, but we moved it over to the Willow Run High School--the old Willow Run High School. And when I took the job in June 2021, she tasked me with building it out. Just use my imagination, do what I needed to do, but make sure that our student staff and families had a place where they can come shop one-stop and get all the items they need. And in June 2021, I took that task on. As you stated, we did have just one room of clothing items. And then, we had another room where there was just some excess and other things like that. I am thankful for EMU for allowing their social workers to come over. I supervise social workers each semester, so they've helped me build it out. But, in 2021, I have three students from AmeriCorps come in, and we had a hefty task of moving all of that stuff. You know, COVID, when we announced it, people were just breaking in items.
Lee Van Roth: Sure.
Cherisa Allen: You know just bags and bags of stuff, Lee.
Lee Van Roth: Anything helps, right?
Cherisa Allen: Anything. And I don't think they really looked in the bag. You know what I'm saying? I think the bags might have been in the basement or the garage for a while.
Lee Van Roth: Okay.
Cherisa Allen: I was like, "Yeah, we'll take it over there." But nonetheless, we found homes for mostly everything. But I have these three dynamic students from AmeriCorps. One, I said, "Oh, I really need a OCD 3.0 person." And wouldn't you know? She walked through the door, and she went to town. So, we built that first room out. The other rooms, we just kind of had them as holding rooms for the time being. And then, I met a pastor. And forgive me, Pastor, I cannot remember the church he's from. But he's a youth pastor. He works with our school district. He came in and painted the rooms. So, he painted three of our rooms. And I continued to say, "Okay, we're going to move over to the other side, we're going to move over the other side." And it wasn't until January 2024 when I had a intern, an MSW intern, who is very hands-on, very meticulous about things. I had a meeting or appointment I had to go to that morning. And I told her, I said, "I'm going to open it up. You go on and run it and do what you do." I come back, Lee. They had moved everything!
Lee Van Roth: Oh wow!
Cherisa Allen: And so, I was, "Oh, wow! But wait! Y'all didn't tell me?"
Lee Van Roth: Yeah, yeah.
Cherisa Allen: And they're like, Well, Ms. Allen, you've been saying you're going to do this." And so, that little control in me was like, "Ugh!" But when I say it needed to be done, they done it. I came back, and I was so tickled because I was like "Oh my goodness! Y'all had everything!" They put everything in place. As you stated, we have internet access, we have nine desktop computers, we have a copier and printer. And we have a lounge area and we have a small area for parents if they need to bring their children. We don't have any licensed daycare on site, so your children are your responsibility. But we do have an area where they can sit down and be occupied. We have a room for our overflow room. We have two, three rooms where they can shop in. We have the community computer room. And then, I have an extra room where we do some PD, some training, do some sitting in circles and just relax or whatever you need to be. So 2026, it has come full circle.
Lee Van Roth: It's really just exploded, it seems.
Cherisa Allen: Yes, it really has! It really has! We use the mini-auditorium also to do program if need be. So, I'm really looking to add our partners where if they're on that side of town, far east side, the old Willow Run High School. If they need to come and say you were in between and you needed to come, and sit down, and do some work, and you don't want to to get back to the building or whatever, you could come and call and say, "Hey, Ms. Allen. Can I come in and use the community room for a second?" And I love it. Referral, I do want to add that there is a process, a referral process, for all YCS families. Again, I'm going to highlight that. This is for YCS student staff and families only. At this time, we don't have the capacity to open it up to the whole Washtenaw County. But we do a great job of making sure our families are served.
Lee Van Roth: And I really appreciate the mention of the several individuals that have kind of come together from the Center's start to now to really make things possible. And I'm wondering if that hadn't been the case. If there hadn't be these social work students and community members coming in, would the Resiliency Center kind of look the way that it does today or if there had been a different kind of budget or something? What impact does that aspect, the community aspect, really have on the way you are able to do the work you do?
Cherisa Allen: I will lead by saying teamwork makes the dream work. That's just not a cliche. That is real life. And as I grow in leadership, I am learning how to share responsibilities, delegate, and ask for help. To know me is to know I always like to do things on my own, and I recognize being a leader is your influence, your integrity, and, number one, learning how to ask for help. And so, when I put it out there, they come. As I stated, I have my students, my EMU interns, BSW, MSW, interns, they have been a great help--AmeriCorps, our community. So, there are several programs I want to highlight that happens at the Resiliency Center. So, I do the holiday celebration, anonymous donations, grants, however, help fund that. Bcause my job, my main job is the McKinney-Vento Liaison, which is taking care of our homeless students, so I make sure that they are prom and graduation ready, and that's through donations, anonymous donations, grant funding. And I also do a program called "You Don't Know My Story." And so, I bring in the students and I bring community members. I brought in NFL players, basketball players, to highlight, not necessarily highlight, but to share their story. So, our students will stay encouraged. And this year on April 30th, I'm doing a mother's edition. So, I'm bringing in the mothers in our district and just showering them with some love. So, the Resiliency Center has grown in the past five, six years? It started in 2020, but it was officially open in 2021.
Lee Van Roth: So five-year anniversary.
Cherisa Allen: Five-year anniversary. So, yes.
Lee Van Roth: This is On the Ground Ypsi on 89.1 WEMU. I'm talking with Cherisa Allen about the YCS Resiliency Center. Cherisa, something that you had brought up in just your experience as director is figuring out how to kind of relinquish responsibility and to delegate and those kinds of things, be able to ask for help. And that is something that I'm sure many families have also struggled with themselves. If there is someone out there listening that really could use some help, but maybe doesn't know where to start, what do you hope more folks learn about or know about?
Cherisa Allen: If you are listening and you're a YCS parent, you have students at Ypsilanti Community Schools, I would encourage you to reach out to your social workers in the school. We have 31A social workers, our general ed social workers, who work with all students and families in the schools. Reach out to them. I do shop for our clothing because I do believe that our students, they should be able to just fit in. It shouldn't look like they're wearing somebody else's clothes. So, I love shopping, so that's a highlight! That is my highlight. I love shopping, so I'm doing what I love to do. But our families, it is a referral process, then an appointment is made. So, reach out to your social workers in your schools.
Lee Van Roth: And looking ahead, what do you hope for the Center within the next five years?
Cherisa Allen: I am hoping that, one, for sure, is that our partners will begin to utilize the community computer room, that they really come over, understand that's a space that could be a space for them to hide from the rest of the world and get some work done. But in the next five years, I'm hoping that it will turn into a multi-use center. Our store will be there, the community computer room, and it will be open at least four days a week, as opposed to one day where I can fit everybody in, but it would be where people can come and go as they choose.
Lee Van Roth: Cherisa, I want to thank you so much for joining me here today and for sharing about how the Resiliency Center is helping to ensure our YCS families are really set up for success both as students are in school and as students leave school. So, thank you again for all this work!
Cherisa Allen: Thank you for having me!
Lee Van Roth: For more on today's conversation and a link to the full article, visit our website at WEMU.org. On the Ground Ypsi is brought to you in partnership with Concentrate Media. I'm Lee Van Roth, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU, Ypsilanti.
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