Education seems to be top-of-mind and a top priority as we navigate through the pandemic and its devasting impact on families. It certainly is for Timothy Abdul-Matin, the co-founder of the MADE Institute, who recently announced his candidacy for the Flint Board of Education. Adbul-Matin hopes to turn around the trajectory of his less than […]
Returning home can be a bumpy process for many returning citizens. Too often times they come home to homelessness and face elevated employment, health and mental health challenges, according to M.A.D.E. Institute’s Executive Director Leon El-Alamin. Homes mean hope for many formerly incarcerated men and women “When basic needs like housing aren’t met, individuals are […]
Homes mean hope for many formerly incarcerated men and women. The need for stable housing is always a priority for anyone recently released from prison, including those from Flint and Genesee County. Flint’s MADE Institute has expanded its mission to support returning citizens through job training, education and mentoring to include providing a safe place […]
He had enjoyed just two months of freedom. A man recently released from prison became a resident of the MADE Transitional House for Flint returning citizens last year, but he began suffering from health issues. “Immediately when he came to the house we noticed some things about him. He was holding his stomach” in pain, […]
It was Thanksgiving 2016 and the spirit of gratitude filled many Flint homes, despite an ongoing health concern. News of the water emergency that contributed to lead poisoning, sickness, even some deaths, was at the forefront of families’ minds as they prepared holiday dinner. This year’s feast would take lots of added effort. In some […]
Leon El-Alamin was tempted to give up his new way of life. Back home from prison, the north side Flint native struggled to support himself. Finding no success through programs that were designed help him get employed, he slept on his mother’s sofa. “I couldn’t even buy a pair of underwear,” El-Alamin recalls. While serving […]
It was Thanksgiving Day and the spirit of gratitude filled many Flint homes in 2016, despite a health threat that frightened the city. News of the water emergency that contributed to lead poisoning, sickness and even some deaths was at the forefront of families’ minds as they prepared their holiday dinner. This year’s feast would […]
The NAACP’s Flint branch will hold its 37th annual Freedom Fund Dinner at 6 p.m., Saturday, March 10 at the Genesys Conference and Banquet Center in Grand Blanc. The annual fundraiser held throughout the country by chapters of the civil rights organization, typically during spring, has become a highlight for members, often attracting locally, regionally, […]
Shayne Hodges first landed work at a pizzeria when he left prison in 2007. Owned by a friend, the shop gave Hodges a meager, but steady, income as a delivery driver, until it closed a year or so later. Convicted at 21, he found himself “bouncing around” retail jobs, always grateful to find employment […]
He went down in a hail of gunfire. At 21, Leon Wilson’s life as a flashy drug dealer and partier, who’d just bought champagne from a Saginaw Street market, appeared near its end. He bled from his head and back, wounded by masked men in a drive-by. Two weeks later Wilson woke from a coma […]