When the Neighborhood Comes Together and an Angel Steps In

When our Central house opened in 2016, a participant tearfully explained how moving it was for her to see this corner house transform from blighted vacancy to a vibrant and populated space. The transformations are not going to end any time soon, for that hope bred an ongoing vision and dedication to what this space […]

A Path Forward

There are times in our lives when we discover a place that changes everything. For Safiya Jackson, better known as Blonde and Blue Girl or simply Blue, that place was Brilliant Detroit. Blue is “a mom of two who’s always looking for something to do with [her] children that isn’t super expensive and yet still […]

Literacy Partnerships and Programs – Spring 2018

Today 14 percent of our 3rd graders in Detroit are reading at grade level. We all know that this is unacceptable and that we must work together to make this a reality of the past. At Brilliant Detroit we are so glad to be partnered with United Way of Southeastern Michigan (UWSEM) on a city-wide […]

Temple’s Room

We’d like to tell the story of a young woman from Ashland, Oregon named Temple. In what is perhaps the most fortuitous occurrence to come out of Brilliant Detroit’s social media presence, Temple took notice of Brilliant Detroit’s work through our Instagram profile while finishing up high school. Temple found herself looking for a fulfilling […]

Neighbor-to-Neighbor

Just over the last few months we’ve been making a difference and learning with neighbors in the following ways: Cody Rouge Cody Rouge neighbors brought more of their extended family and friends to the house, expanding the community there. We were blessed with numerous powerful people and programs, such as Artist Heaven, which engaged our kids […]

Ms. Rachel

Picture 10 or 12 children unexpectedly coming to garden at Brilliant Detroit’s Cody Rouge site one Wednesday afternoon in the summer. They were brought out by a middle-school student who had hung out with us the week before and they were excited to get their hands in the dirt. Spotlight shifts to Ms. Rachel, the […]

Taking Stock in our Children’s Health

Optimizing the early years of a child’s health can be the best investment you can make in your child’s future. Early childhood is a time of rapid development that is critical to their life long well being. Between birth and age three a child typically doubles in height and weight and their brain along with […]

Who Knew – Our Brilliant Detroit Story

In 2015 the Brilliant Detroit Founders met. They bonded by a desire to create a radically new approach to kindergarten readiness in Neighborhoods. They saw that the best way to do this was to create a unique model delivery in how early childhood success was approached. Jim Bellinson brought an amazing investment and scaling background. […]

What an exchange can mean!

Detroit’s Southwest (SW) neighborhood is bustling with life: families strolling around each street, toddlers discovering their environments in public parks, and bilingual teens chattering in mixed language conversation. Yet despite the multilingual teenagers that live in the neighborhood, many of SW community’s members are monolingual, thus preventing them from accessing certain services and navigating daily […]