ABOUT LORI RODDY:
Lori Roddy serves as the Executive Director of the Neutral Zone, a transformative, youth-driven center. With over 22 years at the center and serving in leadership since 2015, Lori has championed youth to thrive in our community. The Neutral Zone is widely recognized for its leadership in youth-driven and restorative practice, creative youth development, education and workforce development, and juvenile justice programming. In addition to providing organization vision and strategic leadership, Lori has been instrumental in creating the Washtenaw County Youth Commission and launching Future Corps Program as a ten-year education and workforce development program. Lori has a Master's in Social Work from the University of Michigan with a focus in community and youth practice.
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David Fair: This is 89.1 WEMU, and welcome to our weekly exploration of equity and opportunity in our community. I'm David Fair, and this is Washtenaw United. So many of our young people are experiencing greater anxiety and feeling the strain of social barriers. With the attack on DEI programs and more open and hostile political climates, those challenges are even exacerbated among the LGBTQ-plus community and young people of color. Now, it's always been the mission of the Ann Arbor-based Neutral Zone to provide help and support to these young people, and we want to find out more. Our guest this morning is Lori Roddy, and Lori is executive director of the Neutral Zone. And thank you so much for the time today, Lori! I appreciate it!
Lori Roddy: Thank you!
David Fair: You've been at Neutral Zone for over 20 years and in a leadership role for the past 10. In all of that time, have you seen politics impact young people as much as it is today?
Lori Roddy: Yeah. The world that we live in is always going to be coming into Neutral Zone, and we have felt it over the 20 years. But today, it's pressing in a way that our young people don't really feel safe in the broader community. We have about 70% of young people who are coming to our drop-in space identifying in the LGBT community and another 40-50% of young people who identify in the BIPOC community. And so, we really want to create a space at Neutral Zone where young people feel safe and supported, where they know that they belong and that they're important and that they're celebrated. And so, this is a mission that we're very committed to doing and to make sure that this is where we're landing with our work and supporting young people.
David Fair: What happens in the mind of a young person which such vitriol is not only spoken but carried out in policy by the government elected to represent them?
Lori Roddy: Right. You know, I think it's important for our young people to know that they're a part of this community and that they can influence the politics in their country. We're understanding right now that the state of Michigan is actually changing and updating their school of education policies. And those guidelines are not including the LGBT community, and we're wanting to make sure that that stays as part of it. There are issues with our young people. The SNAP benefits are not going to happen this month and being greatly reduced. We've lost workforce development funds. I think that, across all of our communities and across the nonprofit sector at large, there is a crisis of resources and supports as the federal government is pulling back.
David Fair: Most of the people that come to you at Neutral Zone are often coming from a place of trauma. Are you seeing those traumas compounded by all that is happening and all that may happen as we move through the rest of the year?
Lori Roddy: Yeah. And we are working really hard to increase our mental health, both in our training for our staff, really focusing on adding some clinical social work support as well. And then, also, just digging deep into our practice of building a restorative community and a restorative space. For us, restorative practice is about building an intentional community from the minute a young person walks through the doors, so from how they're greeted to having warm food, a place to land, being in a community circle intentionally each day where they have the chance to share their pronouns and share their updates on what's happening in their lives and create a dedicated space that, as challenges and issues arise, that they can bring that forward into the community.
David Fair: This is Washtenaw United on 89.1 WEMU, and today, we're talking with the executive director of the Neutral Zone, Lori Roddy. So, when people come to you and you have these intentional interactions, how do you go about fostering the relationship beyond that initial visit that allows for the overcoming of social and political challenges?
Lori Roddy: Right. I think we get the opportunity to build deep and meaningful relationships with young people, both between young people, from our staff and young people, and our community and young people. And I think that that's really a powerful space to be in when the larger political world is kind of at odds and not serving young people in the best way possible. I think it's going to be really important that we hone in on our local community. And so, Neutral Zone is a really special place to be able to do that and to create the intersections of a lot of people coming from a lot of different spaces, identities, background, talents, expertise to show up for youth in our community. We work really hard that when young people walk in the door that they get an individual experience, that they get the chance to build community, but then also taking it to another level that we scaffold their leadership opportunities, so that they have the opportunity to lead and facilitate their own sort of passion projects--the things that they know that matter. So, whether that's climate activism or LGBT activism or whatever it is that they want to make a change, that they have the opportunity and the tools and the resources to put that forward. And then, Neutral Zone is an incredibly creative space. We have a recording studio, concert venue, a visual arts lab, we do poetry, so really using the innovation of creativity to be a meaningful pathway both for the relationship, sharing feelings and emotions, connecting to the community, but also doing activism work. And so, we have a lot of tools and resources that we get to use at this time and, honestly, for all the people who've ever helped to support the Neutral Zone and help to get us to where we are today, we are really using all of that history and talent and resources to show up for youth today.
David Fair: That's not only important to the individuals you're working with, but that ripples out to the community as a whole, right?
Lori Roddy: Absolutely! I have no doubt in my mind that the work that we're doing here and building young people's both confidence in just what they can do, their skills and talents, but also their confidence and their courage to step into leadership roles. I think we know, now more than ever, that leadership isn't just a given, but that it is something that we teach, we train on, we practice, we get mentored and coached on in order to navigate how we show up in the world and how we work to address challenges and how we uplift others in our community. I know that this is a foundational space. When I talk to alumni, I can see how that's showing up. We have alumni doing amazing work across the nation in ways that they may not be running a team center, but they are drawing it and how they develop training for other folks or using their talents to show up. So, we have a young person who is in California and leading trainings around folks who have been formally incarcerated and re-entering their communities.
David Fair: I can hear you smile as you're telling this story.
Lori Roddy: Yeah, yeah, yeah! It's been so fun! Another one of our young people is in New York and instead of running just a mortgage firm is helping nonprofits find dedicated homes and spaces. And we have another young person who's in Colorado and started Mobile Studios, which is creating music opportunities in the Rocky Mountains for young people. So, I think we can see how young people use their talents and skills but mostly build ideas, build the idea of possibilities, invest in their community in ways that are passionate for who they are and where they show up in the world today.
David Fair: It has become clear to me, through the course of our conversation, that perhaps the greatest tool you have in helping develop young people is to listen. And I'm curious as to what you may have learned about yourself by listening to those young voices.
Lori Roddy: You know, I think listening is one of the most important things that we can do. A lot of times, adults will come in and think that we have all these experiences and knowledge and advice to give young people. I think what young people need to know is that adults care, they're willing to listen, and hear what's going on in their minds and what they care about. So, I think that, for all of us, it's a lesson of stepping back and letting young people take the lead and starting with what they're thinking about and what they care about and using that to build possibilities.
David Fair: We all have a chance to listen and learn and become involved. On November 8th, you have the Neutral Zone Engage event that will feature some of the young people from Neutral Zone, right?
Lori Roddy: Yes, absolutely! Thanks for bringing it up! This is us really wanting to welcome our broader community into the Neutral Zone to connect with young people. And it's also an opportunity for our young people to see how adults--adults who they may not know--show up for them. So often, it's only the teachers and family members that young people get the chance to interact with around the things they care about. And yet, we live in such a broader community. It is a really powerful experience for a young person to have an idea and to open the doors of Neutral Zone and see and meet a lot of other people who care about the same things they care about, but they may have never met before. And that's what Engage is really about. Young people will be pitching their passion projects, things that they want to do this coming year, between now and May. And they're going to be looking for support. And most groups are asking for anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000 total for their projects. So, it's something that this community absolutely can and should show up for. But more than that, it's about them building those skills and experiences, getting to start from an idea, putting it into a plan and seeing it materialize in a way that they have made impact in our community. And this is an experience that most young people across our nation do not get the chance to do. They're often told how to participate. And this is the opportunity to really listen to young people and take the lead from them and offer the support and resources, so that they get to shine in a way that is meaningful.
David Fair: Well, Lori, we'll look forward to looking and listening! But, for today, thank you so much for the time and for sharing the information!
Lori Roddy: Absolutely! Thank you so much!
David Fair: That is Lori Roddy, executive director of Ann Arbor-based nonprofit, The Neutral Zone. For more information, stop by our website at WEMU.org. Washtenaw United is produced in partnership with the United Way for Southeastern Michigan, and you hear it every Monday. I'm David Fair, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU-FM Ypsilanti. Celebrating 60 years of broadcasting from the campus of Eastern Michigan University!
WEMU has partnered with the United Way for Southeastern Michigan to explore the people, organizations, and institutions creating opportunity and equity in our area. And, as part of this ongoing series, you’ll also hear from the people benefiting and growing from the investments being made in the areas of our community where there are gaps in available services. It is a community voice. It is 'Washtenaw United.'
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