At Bat – October, 2021

As the new program year approaches, we want to make sure we take the time to highlight the impactful work that is taking place in Detroit. We are kicking off a new Provider Highlight Series by highlighting At Bat.

At Bat is an out-of-school program that uses the game of baseball and softball to teach young people in Metro Detroit the fundamentals of sports. We had the opportunity to talk with their Founder and Executive Director, Delrisha Hayes, about the impact her program is making on the city. You can read more about our short interview with her below: 

What unique gap does your organization fill for the youth in the city of Detroit?
Youth participation in sports is oftentimes hampered by insufficient funds to cover costs of lessons, equipment, and/or even transportation, which is why we work in partnership with local communities and schools to provide affordable programming in communities where youth have least likely participated due to these factors. In addition, it is proven that participation in sports positively impacts a child’s physical and mental health while also providing lessons in self-discipline.

What would you say has been your organization’s biggest hurdle this year and how did you overcome that?
Our biggest hurdle was a decline in volunteerism for in-person programming, and we struggled with hiring part-time help for our summer in-person program. We found that most people are not ready to return to work and decide not to engage in volunteerism via in-person for a variety of different reasons and of course risk associated with it. However, we pushed through by communicating with our partners at Center 4 Success in Pontiac, informing them that we would have to reduce the amount of time we had scheduled to spend on-site, and did not take on any extra off-site opportunities with new potential partners.

What has been your organization’s moment of pride and how did you celebrate?

Receiving funding for the creation of our sporting kits from Dicks Sporting Good Sports Matters Foundation and Co-Act Detroit in 2021 is At Bat’s moment of pride. I say this because, leaving 2020 into the new year, I didn’t know if the organization would be able to survive. Funding opportunities were so scarce, especially for sporting organizations. Plus, I had pitched the sporting kits idea twice before I was able to secure funding, so it meant a lot to find someone who believed in the things the organization does. In addition to supporting our transition as we tried to create programming/activities that adapt to current conditions. I celebrated by just giving myself an extra day off to just relax. These sporting kits were given to our partners at Center 4 Success (Detroit and Pontiac).

What is one fun fact people may not know about you as a leader or about your program?
I started incorporating STEM education into programming when I first piloted my first after-school program at Voyager Academy in 2017.

Finally, are there any organizations you would like to connect with in the Detroit out of school time network and why?
The Detroit Parks and Recreation Department, I believe we could work together to create different programs that offer sport sampling, educational workshops and activities that focus on childhood obesity, and assist us with connecting with more youth, families, and community members.

Thank you At Bat for taking the time to share with us and for providing high quality programming for our Detroit area youth. 

At the end of the summer, our team had a retreat (all virtual this year) and we had some courageous conversations about our earliest memories of race, as well as our journeys with youth development network building in Detroit. It was a powerful experience that resulted in tears for some of us, particularly as we reflected on how each of our individual journeys with this work intersected and how we impacted each other, sometimes in positive ways and sometimes in unintentionally harmful ways. The discussion was made all the more tender and vulnerable because it could not be done in person.

The conversation helped us identify our key priorities for this unusual year. The biggest priority we identified is getting back to basics and focusing on our local relationship building. A sense of community across the youth development sector is one of our greatest offerings.

At the end of the two day experience, Yvonne and I got an email from a youth development professional in our network asking us for their organization’s data because their Executive Director had passed away this summer.

If you have participated in this community of youth development professionals for a while, you might have met Dr. Cassandra Montgomery who was both the Program Director and then the Executive Director of People’s Community Services, which runs the Delray Community Center on Detroit’s southwest side. She was one of our most regular participants, and we were really saddened to learn of her passing. She had an extraordinary life.

People know YDRC because of quality or data or professional development, but our roots are in the neighborhood-based network-building done by the former staff of the Youth Development Alliance (Partnership for Youth and the Youth Development Initiative) and the Youth Development Commission that came before YDRC. We’ve kept some of that network building alive, but this summer we’ve really felt the loss of those deep and wide networks in Detroit neighborhoods.

My first memory of Dr. Montgomery was probably 7 years ago when she brought youth from the Delray Community Center to the Patton Recreation Center to present on the results of the small grant they received from Partnership for Youth. My last memory was being in her office, talking with her about how stretched for resources her program was but that they needed to keep the doors open for Delray youth who really needed somewhere to be when out-of-school. She gave me a tour before I left. The gym floor was buckled from a water leak, but youth were arriving afterschool to do homework and hang out.

While continuous quality improvement is at the heart of what we do, we’d like to be as known for relationship building and advocacy for youth. To youth, the caring adults and the safe spaces in their lives are their greatest resource, especially right now.

If you have a few dollars to spare, please make a donation in Dr. Montgomery’s honor to the Delray Community Center.

Imagine, as a high school student, how it would feel to work with design industry professionals who took you seriously. Imagine sharpening your design thinking skills—ideation, planning, prototyping, iteration—all key skills that will drive your college success and that you’ll use for the rest of your life. Imagine digging deep into critical thinking and entrepreneurship with mentors. Imagine developing an idea and standing in front of over 200 people and pitching that idea without notes. Imagine interning with Detroit institutions like the Detroit Lions. Now imagine doing it with a cohort of your friends supported by committed, caring facilitators who’ll be with you all four years of high school. And each year, rising together to the challenge of a new, bigger project. What would it feel like to see yourself as an educated world-class citizen, a world changer?

The youth in Give Merit’s FATE program could tell you. Each workshop begins and ends with a jubilant affirmation: “I am an educated world class-citizen! I am a world changer!” High school youth from the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy in Detroit spend four years in a cohort that immerses them in an intensive hands-on blend of project-based learning, character development, career exposure, and mentorship. The program model emphasizes the value of education and its role in achieving long-term career and personal goals. 

It’s hard to hear the statistic that 1 in 4 Detroit high school students will not graduate on time. Give Merit wanted to change that for its students. Their very first cohort graduated all of its 22 students. Each cohort member that graduates from high school and is accepted into a college or university receives a $5,000 scholarship toward their continuing education. After high school, youth enter an alumni program.

Since Give Merit began their work in 2012, they’ve continued to lean into their values and vision. When the need arose to move programming online, it took a lot of planning and creativity. The shift was highly disruptive but staff at Give Merit were committed to making sure that youth continued to feel the deep level of connection that the program fostered. The organization focused on working week by week, making certain that youth were at the heart of their planning and that students felt supported, heard, and connected. Give Merit developed a priority map that centered youth, and each staff member was given responsibility for key pieces. Staff met and planned every week, evaluating, re-prioritizing, and iterating as needed to remain true to their vision.

Two key questions surfaced—how to keep capstone projects going in a virtual space and how to best utilize resources? 

Realizing that the landscape of their work and the needs of youth were shifting during COVID-19, the Give Merit team worked with a priority map. This ensured that youth remained supported, heard, and connected. Throughout, staff interrogated their choices: Is what we’re doing aligned with our mission? What can we do best? What services can we provide? What services shouldn’t we provide? What are others doing and how can we connect our families to them? As they reviewed each week, the team continued to adapt and shift to meet youth where they were.

The Give Merit staff and youth began rethinking their capstone projects. The trajectory which was scaffolded from 9th to 12th grade—design skill-building, idea development, event creation, internship—managed to retain its structure, even though it looked different in a virtual space. This year, the cohorts storyboarded a commercial idea, created a product collection and website splash page, designed a virtual event, and made a video and PowerPoint presentation to the Detroit Lions organization, along with senior advising and college transition team members. 

Even though it has been a challenging transition, it has also been a time of reflection and deep thinking. “This time is allowing us to think through some really vital systems and processes that will only make future programming stronger,” shared Kuhu Saha, Give Merit’s Executive Director.

We look forward to seeing Give Merit’s youth thrive as educated world-class citizens, as world changers.

What have been some takeaways from this experience?

• Take it one day at a time. Thinking too far ahead will take your focus away from the work.
• Don’t be afraid to interrogate your ideas:  Is what we’re doing aligned with our mission? What can our organization do best? What services should we not provide? What services are others providing and how can we connect our youth and families to those?

Want to know more?

Give Merit envisions a world where every child is valued and has opportunities to be successful in life. A world where a child’s FATE is determined by their character and not judgments based on their skin color or socioeconomic background.

To learn more about Give Merit or to support their work through volunteering or donations, visit their website, and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

Our thanks to Give Merit Executive Director, Kuhu Saha, for taking the time to share their experience with us.