Sarah Rigg

The mission of the Ypsilanti-based nonprofit A Brighter Way is to provide mentorship to formerly incarcerated individuals as they return to society. Now, the organization is creating a new housing program for its mentees. A Brighter Way's executive director, Adam Grant, talks all about it with Rylee Barnsdale.

Two nonprofits serving youth are the recipients of the 2025 City of Ypsilanti Youth Mini-Grants. One of which is the All About Speed Track Club, which gets kids involved in track and field events. The club's president and head coach, Sean Brandon, Jr., joined Rylee Barnsdale to talk about what's in the club's future thanks to their financial gift.

Incubator kitchens are commercial kitchen spaces for food-based entrepreneurs to rent and share, and they're an integral resource to those with big food ideas but lack of access to specific equipment. They also provide information and assistance both on business matters, like marketing and advertising, and food matters, like food safety and product testing. Ypsilanti nonprofit Growing Hope offers its own incubator kitchen program to any Ypsilanti resident with food business dreams. Concentrate Media's Rylee Barnsdale talks about the program with its manager, Deante Brand.

The Ypsilanti Community School District has clarified that school staff will not ask families about their immigration status or voluntarily coordinate with immigration control and enforcement officers. Immigrant students are anxious that, when they get home from school, their parents may not be there. Rebecca Olszewski is the managing attorney at the Ypsilanti office of the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. She joined Rylee Barnsdale to discuss how to keep up with the needs of Ypsilanti's immigrant community.

At the end of 2024, Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education Advancement and Potential (MiLEAP) announced that the state of Michigan had the highest pre-kindergarten enrollment numbers over the past decade and an increase of over 4,000 students from 2023 figures. The Ypsilanti Community Schools saw a 15% increase in pre-kindergarten enrollment. Rylee Barnsdale checked in with Washtenaw Intermediate School District executive director of early childhood, Edward Manuszak, to discuss the increase and what it weans to the community on this week's "On the Ground Ypsi."

The Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority (YCUA) is looking for heavy metal. This past summer, the YCUA recieved funding as part of the Environmental Protection Agency's "Get the Lead Out" initiative. It's designed to remove lead water pipes that can impact drinking water. Concentrate Media's Rylee Barnsdale provides more details on the work being done in Ypsilanti area in a conversation with YCUA executive director Luke Blackburn on this week's "On the Ground Ypsi."

While the Ypsilanti Freighthouse serves as a daytime warming center, the only 24/7 shelter for unhoused members of the Ypsilanti community is the Delonis Center in Ann Arbor. and it has limited beds available. There is ongoing community discussion about the need for a shelter on the eastern side of Washtenaw County. Concentrate Media's Rylee Barnsdale that need and what's being done about it with Lindsay Calka. She's the managing director of Groundcover News, a publication giving voice to low-income residents.

The Riverside Arts Center is working with social workers and students of social work to develop new, socially conscious programming. Concentrate Media’s Rylee Barnsdale chats about some of the programming being offered at Riverside with local social worker and therapist Kayla Skinner-Roy.

Ypsilanti's own Corner Health Center has partnered with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on their Child and Adolescent Health Center program for the past 30 years to provide physical and mental health care to Ypsilanti's youth. But a new opportunity from MDHHS is now allowing the Corner to take its services beyond their home and into the school system. Concentrate Media's Rylee Barnsdale talks about this new initiative with Corner Health Youth Leadership Council president, Hasini Anand.

Earlier this year, Growing Hope announced the "Sprout Grants" program, which awards funds to organizations that promote self-reliance, self-determination, and food sovereignty through neighborhood gardening. This past September, seven Ypsilanti-area organizations received the inaugural grants, and among them was the Cross Street Village senior living facility. Cross Street community organizer Gwendolyn Copeland talks to Rylee Barnsdale about how they received the grant and their plans for the money.