ABOUT DAVE GARCIA:
Professional Experience
Antonio David Garcia has dedicated more than 30 years to working in the nonprofit sector, demonstrating a deep commitment to community service and social justice. He currently serves as the Executive Director of Garrett’s Space, continuing his impactful leadership in the field.
Previously, Garcia was the Executive Director of Affirmation, Michigan’s largest LGBTQ center, where he served for a total of eight years across two separate tenures. His leadership extended to the Los Angeles LGBTQ Center, where he held the role of Director of Policy and Community Building for five years. In addition, Garcia served as the Executive Director of The Kalamazoo Gay and Lesbian Resource Center (now OutFront) and has held various leadership positions within the YMCA.
Board Memberships and Community Involvement
Dave Garcia’s commitment to advocacy is further reflected in his current service on several boards. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Michigan ACLU, the Michigan Humanities Council, and the LGBTQ Unity PAC, where he contributes to broader efforts to advance civil rights and community engagement.
Honors and Recognition
Garcia’s dedicated efforts have been recognized at the state level. He recently received a State Proclamation from Governor Whitmer and the Michigan LGBTQ Caucus, honoring his longstanding work to improve the lives of Michigan’s queer community. In addition, the Board of Directors at Affirmations voted to name the annual Affirmations’ Community Hero Award in his honor, ensuring his legacy will be remembered in perpetuity.
Education and Creative Accomplishments
Dave Garcia is a graduate of the University of Michigan – Flint, where he was named the Charles Apple Communications Student of the Year. His achievements also include being named “Civil Libertarian of the Year” by the ACLU of Flint and being featured in Dan Woog’s book, Jocks II – Coming Out to Play. Garcia has demonstrated his talent in the arts by winning two Michigan Addy awards in 2009 for his film work, completing a full-length documentary titled Fences, and earning critical acclaim as a playwright. His play, Candy Corn, Christ and the Convoluted Creation of Golf, debuted to sold-out audiences at the Performance Network in Ann Arbor and was named one of the top ten shows in Michigan by the Flint Journal.
RESOURCES:
TRANSCRIPTION:
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. Superior Township will soon be home to a residential healing facility designed to help young adults navigate their way beyond suicidal ideation. Garrett's Space, as it is called, will be a non-medical intervention campus in Superior Township, and it is going to provide support, guidance, and sense of community. Garrett's Space has existed as an online resource with monthly in-person meetings for quite some time, but the 76-acre campus now in development will expand resources and availability in the mission of saving lives and improving mental health. The vision and all that has helped lead to this place in time was born of tragedy. Eight years ago, Garrett Halpert took his own life. The vision and mission of the Garrett's Space campus has been and is the passion of Garrett's parents, Scott and Julie Halpert. Joining us today is the executive director of Garrett's Space, Dave Garcia. And thank you so much for making time, Dave! I appreciate it!
Dave Garcia: Thank you!
David Fair: I've had the good fortune of talking with Scott and Julie a couple of times, and in each instance, I've come away inspired. And I know that may sound awkward given the circumstance, but the strength, courage, and sense of purpose is undeniable. I assume you've had some time to spend with the Halperts by now. How has the relationship with the family impacted how and what you want to accomplish?
Dave Garcia: You know, to your point, I can't imagine a greater tragedy for parents to go through. I have a daughter myself, who I raised as a single father. And what they've done with the loss and grief and turning it into something that will greatly benefit the community and, I believe, truly save lives is remarkable.
David Fair: After you were named executive director back in April, Scott transitioned into the role of chairman and president of the board of directors, Julie now serving as vice president of the board. How has the working part of the relationship evolved over the course of the year?
Dave Garcia: I've been there now for about seven months, but I've been in nonprofits for 30 years. And so, I think what has been unique in our relationship is they brought me in with that experience in the nonprofit world to bring in best practices and to professionalize the organization. And in those ways, it's been nice to be able to see not only their dedication, but family and friends that are also on the board of directors, their commitment to this issue. And I think that we all share the same mission of Garrett's Space. We all want to save lives. We all want to reduce suicide and suicide ideation. I've lost many people in my life to suicide, as I know many of your listeners have as well. And so, to be working with them side by side to me to be bringing in some best practices and how to run a nonprofit. The first half of my career was with the YMCA right there in Ann Arbor. I ran camps for the Ann Arbor YMCA. I was a camp director. And so, it's interesting now to be on a beautiful, 76-acre, what feels to me, like a camp, as we build and as we have a a campfire and as we have residential stays. And then, the second half of my career was as an executive director of nonprofits, particularly in the queer spaces. And so, to see these two worlds of mine professionally come together to try to accomplish and evolve Scott and Julie's mission has been challenging, but also very rewarding.
David Fair: I know that Garrett has been gone for eight years now, but my impression is, as we prepare for the opening of this 76-acre facility, that he is absolutely going to have an ongoing role in what it is becoming and will be.
Dave Garcia: You know, it's interesting that you say that. I remember Scott and Julie saying that when they drove onto this property, they felt Garrett's presence. And you can't help but walk around the 76 acres of nature with the creek and the pond and what seem to be hiking trails and just look around and imagine what is possible. We are building not only a residential facility, but, in a little bit more time, a creative studio and being able to utilize the house that's already on the property. It's a beautiful, Frank Lloyd Wright replica home that's already there with a beautiful, large garage that we're remodeling right now for things like yoga and for us to be able to do music and movement and just getting young adults out into nature. You know, I used to run outward bound-type programs, and I know what it means to take young adults out of their natural environment and to get them out on a sea kayaking trip or hiking a mountain out into nature surrounded by their peers who they can talk to that have gone through what they go through. I've heard those conversations around the campfires, and I know that it changes lives. And that's what we're trying to do today.
David Fair: We're talking with Garrett's Space Executive Director Dave Garcia on 89.1 WEMU's Washtenaw United. As you mentioned, you have a long history of working in the nonprofit sector and in the queer spaces, as you said. You were executive director of Affirmative Michigan, the state's largest LGBTQ center. You were director of policy and community building at the Los Angeles LGBTQ Center and Director of the Kalamazoo Gay and Lesbian Resource Center. Now, I don't need to tell you that LGBTQ-plus youth are more than four times likely to attempt suicide as compared to their heterosexual peers. Is this a service gap that Garrett's Space can help close in our community?
Dave Garcia: Even now, Garrett's Space, while we haven't opened the property yet, and we're very close to being able to have groups at the house and the garage that I just mentioned, in fact, in just a couple weeks. But even now, we have cohorts. We have three cohorts of a dozen youths that meet weekly, virtually, and they've been doing that for years with a licensed therapist and a facilitator. And then, once a month, they meet face-to-face, and they go do something like putt-puyt, video games, whatever it is, that face-to-face meeting. And we're looking to start a fourth cohort in just a couple of weeks that will meet at the house face-to-face. So, we'll be able to do a lot more in programming at the home. Garrett's Space is not a queer organization, but it is fair to say that, as I'm speaking to you now, about 40-plus percent of the young adults that are in our program are identifying as queer. And to your point, that doesn't surprise me at all. We've been fighting suicide and suicide ideation and depression and anxiety in the queer community forever. And I can't tell you how many young, brilliant, queer people that I've lost and I've seen die of suicide. And so, yes, it is very important to us, and not just the queer community. I'm thinking of veterans and the high suicide rate in veterans coming back that are in our age group of 18-28 and how can we help them. And the Native American population, where the suicide rate is is astronomically high. How can we help them? So, yes. Of course, the queer community is important to us. And we are serving that gap, and we are seeing that right now, but we are certainly looking toward the entire community and not just Southeast Michigan and Ann Arbor. Once we're built, this will be for anyone in Michigan and for anyone in the country to come to. Because as I've been in this career for 30-plus years, I've never seen anything quite like what's being built at Garrett's Space. That's what attracted me to it, and I think that's what attracts the community to it and, hopefully, more and more young adults, so that they can get help.
David Fair: Well, you know, sometimes the hardest part of healing is initially asking for help. How is the Garrett's Space team reaching out to the community here and beyond to create an environment where people do ask for that help before it's too late?
Dave Garcia: Yeah. You know, suicide is the second leading cause of death for this age group in our country, and we have to do more. And I think, to your point, people don't talk about it. People don't ask for help. There's a lot of stigma with suicide. There's a lot of shame when families lose someone to suicide and what could I have done? There's guilt. There's so many factors around suicide and suicide ideation. We are reaching out to many therapists in our community and across the region. And they can make referrals. Parents can make referrals. Schools can make referrals. So, we're seeing young people come to those cohorts now from referral services, and we're expanding those relationships. And that's what we're going to continue to do. But word-of-mouth is important. And when we have young adults now in our cohorts who have said and believed that Garrett's Space is already changing their lives, then that word gets around. And there's nothing quite like that. And that's the most effective way. But we are certainly building relationships with therapists and psychologists, and we get a lot of referrals there as well.
David Fair: Well, what is the timeline for getting ready and having the residential part of the facility open and available?
Dave Garcia: Well, we're just a couple of weeks away from getting in the house in the garage. The house is perfectly safe, but when a family used to live there, it's very different than when we're bringing in a group.
David Fair: Right.
Dave Garcia: So, we need a commercial fire suppression now, and the fire chief has to sign off on that. And we are very close to that moment. And also bringing the house up to ADA compliance with ramps and things along those lines or remodeling the garage. That's just a matter of weeks. And then, we hope, by this time next year, we will have the residential facility complete, at least enough first floors, so that we can do more and more programming in there as well soon after having the residential stays and the overnight stays from that from that point. And so, it's just a couple of weeks before we start doing more in-house programming, which I'm really excited about! We're going to learn a lot, right? Because it isn't just the house and the garage, it's the 76 acres of land. It's the creek. It's the pond. It's being able to build. My camp director brain is is working overtime of what kind of elements can we build on this land for team building and for relationship building. And so, it's a matter of weeks for the house and the garage. By this time next year, we're going to be able to be inside the residential facility. We've already broken ground. They're laying the foundations. We're raising. We're doing our best to raise the money in a very difficult environment, and we're on our way.
David Fair: Well, I look forward to the grand opening of all that is to come! Thank you for the work you're doing, and thanks for the time today, Dave! I really appreciate it!
Dave Garcia: Dave, thank you very much!
David Fair: That is Dave Garcia, Executive Director of Garrett's Space. He's been our guest on Washtenaw United. For more information on Garrett's Space and to connect, go to our website at WEMU.org. If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, you can dial or text 988 and be connected to help immediately. Washtenaw United is produced in partnership with the United Way for Southeastern Michigan. You hear it every Monday. I'm David Fair, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU-FM Ypsilanti.
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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