ABOUT R. TYRONE KELSEY:
Tyrone Kelsey lives in Superior Township. Married 39 years with 3 adult kids. BS in Public Administration from EMU. MA in Spiritual Formation from Ashland Theological Seminary. MA in Sociology from EMU. Just completed 1st year as Executive Director of Friends In Deed. The majority of 45 year was in IT, 27 years with Ford Motor Company.
RESOURCES:
Friends In Deed on X (Twitter)
TRANSCRIPTION:
David Fair: This is 89.1 WEMU, and if you take a look around, there are still far too many people living in poverty. In fact, numbers are growing. I'm David Fair, and welcome to Washtenaw United. It's our weekly exploration of equity and opportunity in our community. For some, living in poverty has been generational, and systemic factors help keep it that way. The Ypsilanti-based nonprofit Friends In Deed has a two-pronged approach in dealing with these issues directly: help those in need and build community to end poverty. For our guest today, this is not only a professional mission but a personal one as well. Tyrone Kelsey is the Executive Director of Friends In Deed and this week's guest on Washtenaw United. And thank you so much for making time today! I appreciate it!
Tyrone Kelsey: Thank you, David, for having me! I appreciate the opportunities for being here!
David Fair: Tyrone, you've been the Executive Director for just over a year now. And in reflecting over the past 12 months or so, what impressions and assessments have you made about the issue of poverty in Washtenaw County?
Tyrone Kelsey: The past 12 months have provided me the opportunity to really sort of peel back a lot of the layers involved with poverty and the concept of standards that we have here and the financial standards that have in America that creates our social classes and an inequitable distribution of wealth and really sort of trying to grasp what are the real lived experiences of people in poverty and what are their challenges. And so, if i can understand those challenges and those of lived experiences, maybe I could do a better job of helping my team, and I get to the point where we design and develop programs and services that better align with our clients' needs.
David Fair: So, for you, personally Tyrone, you spent the majority of the past 45 years working in the information technology realm, including 27 at Ford. You have a bachelor's degree in public administration and a master's in sociology from Eastern Michigan. You received a master from Ashland Theological Seminary in spiritual formation. That educational combination sounds as though it is in alignment with the mission of Friends In Deed.
Tyrone Kelsey: Yes, it is. The reality and the dynamic here, even though it isn't 100% foolproof, the education is a key enabler for helping people navigate through the economic ranks here, uplifting themselves from poverty to middle income. And the context here is that education then helps people begin to understand the world better and then themselves in that world and where they fit in and how they will earn a living in that space there. And that self-awareness that comes through the education experience then motivates people towards a path and drives them to a vocation or whatever it is in life where they think they were going to land to began to get to financial security.
David Fair: I'm curious. It sounds as though combating poverty is not just a professional choice, it's something more personal.
Tyrone Kelsey: It is a personal choice. You know, one of the things that corporate America teaches you is that you have talents and skills and capabilities, but what are you really going to do with it to really make a difference in the world? Are you just going to spend a lot of that talent and capabilities with trying to maximize profit or are you going to try to make a difference in the world and make a mark in that little pond of your space in this big old ocean? And you're asking yourself, "Why am I here? What is this all about?" And so, part of that is, "Yep. I need to feed my family and keep a roof over my head, but I've acquired a bunch of talents and skills where I need begin to figure out how to give back and pay it forward." And that's where I had the opportunity here at Friends In Deed to do, especially when, sort of what my wife calls, I've flown to retirement. And it's been very rewarding in that context, because that's just my stake in the sand, that's where I draw the line, and that's where, for me and my community, I can be present and be part of a community, the village of caregivers and providers, to help our neighbors together.
David Fair: Our Washtenaw United conversation with Friends In Deed Executive director Tyrone Kelsey continues on 89.1 WEMU. There is poverty based on current or temporary circumstance, and there is generational poverty often perpetuated by systemic barriers to progress. That's a high hurdle to jump. Is that at least a part of the reason the organization has streamlined its services into what you call the Essential Services Program?
Tyrone Kelsey: That's part of it. Primarily, that program addresses our situational poverty. A strategy or part of our reduction strategy where we know that there are situations where income and expenses get misaligned, impacting rental housing transportation etc. So, we want to make it easier to reach out and connect with us, and we're still working to improve that process. But when we talk about generational poverty, we talk about our Circles program, which leverages the Circles USA national model, and helps people sort of expand beyond their generation experiences of how their mindset gets reduced because the world is too large for them. There's too many obstacles and inhibitors and barriers for them, and we help them to get a better sense for themselves through personal transformation. They grow in their mindset and their perspective of who they are and their capabilities. While the world expands, we expand the social capital around them to navigate and deal with the world much more effectively.
David Fair: You have, at times, described the Circles program as perhaps your favorite child among programs. Circles Washtenaw County is not unique. There are Circle programs around the country because it works. Now, you talked about the personal growth that is available and possible through the Circles program, but this is also described as a relationship-driven program. So, how does that play into its workings?
Tyrone Kelsey: The strategy behind or the discovery around the Circles program is the reality that most people in poverty's primary circle or connection of relationships is with other people who are in poverty. The strategy then is to surround the people in poverty as leaders for their own futures establishing their own goals and objectives with other people who have succeeded in some fashion or other professionally. And so, they've acquired soft skills, lived experience, etc. We call that expanding their social network, their social capital. And those relationships then form. They're lasting in terms of the village that people in poverty experience, during the program and after the program, with someone coming alongside of them as allies to continue to support them in their growing self-awareness and their goals and objectives and beginning to transform themselves, not just the program, but after the programs as well, towards their financial security goals.
David Fair: As a non-profit, you are in large part dependent on fundraising. And as any non-profit will attest to, this is a particularly difficult time to raise money. Are you secure in your program offerings and your services right now?
Tyrone Kelsey: Am I financially secure? No. At a certain point, my definition of financially secure would be we spend less time on fundraising, and we have sort of context for helping our team or staff who would deliver these programs make a decent living. There is kind of a misnomer that funders and foundations have regarding nonprofits is they love the programs and the services. But we often overlooked that the people and the talents and the skills behind it need to earn a living as well. And so, my level of comfort and confidence is when those two can align much better. And so, we're we're not there yet, and most nonprofits aren't. Unless, of course, we have large quantities of federal grants etc. And we as a small nonprofit don't have a lot of it. We only have one federal grant program. So, we rely a lot on churches, individual contributions from foundations, etc.
David Fair: So, with the uncertainty in mind, what does the rest of 2026 hold for Friends In Deed?
Tyrone Kelsey: It continues with my leadership team to have great discussions of about how to navigate the space of development and fundraising and connecting and relationships. And the challenge here is that everyone that discovers us realizes that we are and awesome program, we're an awesome organization with great programs. How do we get the word out? How do we tell our stories? How we do this--so what--in terms of the impact that we have? That's the ongoing effort that we have. While we're working to deliver the programs, we still need to work to building relationships and engaging people, so they are aware of us as an agency and the work that we do, and they can become engaged as partners supporting us. And that's the building community part of our mission: helping people in need and building community to end poverty. So, we actively engage in both of those dynamics of our mission by just building relationships and engaging community.
David Fair: Well, thank you for engaging with us today, Tyrone! I certainly appreciate it! It was nice talking with you!
Tyrone Kelsey: David, thank you for having me and your very insightful questions! I appreciate the opportunity to be here!
David Fair: That is Tyrone Kelsey. He is Executive Director of the Ypsilanti-based non-profit Friends In Deed, our guest on Washtenaw United. Now, for more information on combating poverty and building community, stop by our website at WEMU.org. We'll get you linked up everywhere you need to go. 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 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.'
Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support. Make your donation to WEMU today to keep your community NPR station thriving.
Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on X (Twitter)
Contact WEMU News at 734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org
