Last Tuesday, as a part of our weekly enrichment activity, we went to Brilliant Detroit’s headquarters to help organize their community center. Before volunteering, I had never heard of Brilliant Detroit. Founded in 2015, Brilliant Detroit’s mission is to build kid success families and neighborhoods where families with children 0-8 have what they need to be school ready, healthy and stable. They are currently in 12 different locations across Detroit, and have helped support thousands of families during the pandemic by providing food boxes, learn-at-home kits, laptops, baby supplies, winter clothing, children’s books and much more. Families impacted by the organization have also seen improvements in 75% of Brilliant Detroit’s measures of kid success including education, health, and family support. Even during my brief time volunteering with them, I could tell that everyone at Brilliant Detroit is passionate about supporting the education of children in communities across Detroit.
Brilliant Detroit was created because people saw the need for better early childhood education. Today 60 percent of Detroit children under five live in poverty with the majority of kids not ready for kindergarten. By third grade only 14 percent read at grade level. Added to this is the fact that 30,000 of the city’s kids have zero learning and care options in their nearby vicinity. Thus, Brilliant Detroit was created to coordinate and connect what works for families and kids in one centrally located, welcoming place.
Brilliant Detroit’s delivery model is also rather unique because it uses underutilized housing stock to create early child and family centers inside the neighborhoods it serves. When a community invites Brilliant Detroit to set up a community center in their neighborhood, Brilliant Detroit often partners with the local community organization to help establish their base and provide relevant services to the community. Families work alongside staff to ensure programs and services meet the needs of neighbors and support the intellectual, social and emotional growth of their young children. In each of their locations, neighbors come together for fellowship, activities and learning to assure school readiness, and provide needed support for families. By rallying neighborhoods and families to help promote better early childhood education, Brilliant Detroit has been able to foster kid success neighborhoods and contribute to creating a better Detroit.
Brilliant Detroit was created because people saw the need for better early childhood education. Today 60 percent of Detroit children under five live in poverty with the majority of kids not ready for kindergarten. By third grade only 14 percent read at grade level. Added to this is the fact that 30,000 of the city’s kids have zero learning and care options in their nearby vicinity. Thus, Brilliant Detroit was created to coordinate and connect what works for families and kids in one centrally located, welcoming place.
Brilliant Detroit’s delivery model is also rather unique because it uses underutilized housing stock to create early child and family centers inside the neighborhoods it serves. When a community invites Brilliant Detroit to set up a community center in their neighborhood, Brilliant Detroit often partners with the local community organization to help establish their base and provide relevant services to the community. Families work alongside staff to ensure programs and services meet the needs of neighbors and support the intellectual, social and emotional growth of their young children. In each of their locations, neighbors come together for fellowship, activities and learning to assure school readiness, and provide needed support for families. By rallying neighborhoods and families to help promote better early childhood education, Brilliant Detroit has been able to foster kid success neighborhoods and contribute to creating a better Detroit.
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