On Thursday, June 3, the Inkster Housing Commission welcomed residents and city officials to a Community Open House celebrating the Grand Re-opening of the city's EnVision Center located on Hickory Street in Inkster. Originally dedicated in 2018, progress on community outreach efforts at the Inkster EnVision Center was hampered with the arrival of COVID-19. Executive Director of the Inkster Housing Commission Aaron Cooper says the goal is to get the center up and running again now that that pandemic is beginning to wane, and to remind the community the center is available. "We want to reopen and tell everyone we're open; we have safe practices in place but we are open," says Cooper. "These centers were dedicated as kind of centralized hubs from HUD, the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It was their vision to create centralized spaces where residents could feel safe, where they could come and gain, maybe educational information, economic information, health and wellness, even character improvement."

There are 100 EnVision Centers across the nation, all sponsored by HUD. Michigan has a total of five, with additional centers in Grand Rapids, Saginaw, and two centers in Detroit. EnVision Centers provide residents resources and support to help them to become self-sufficient, and support is based on four pillars: economic empowerment, educational advancement, health and wellness, and character and leadership.

Inkster Mayor Patrick Wimberly attended the event and commented, "I am so excited about the possibilities here in this center. When we talk about the EnVision Center, we talk about love, we talk about family, we talk about peace in a generation...as long as we work together correctly, we will have young men and women that will come through the EnVision Center that will be able to get those resources."

Tamica Sutton, Director of Asset Management for the Inkster Housing Commission, says, "I think it's amazing, I think it's going to really help the community as a whole. It's about self-sufficiency and helping residents to do what they need as far as working or getting a high school diploma. We're going to partner with different organizations to get that here and to offer it to the residents."

Cooper, who has been with the Inkster Housing Commission since February, says the center could offer services and programs such as computer classes, assistance with utility bills and finances, help finding a doctor, healthy living classes, or even GED prep. He also emphasized the center is intended to be a safe space which residents could use for meetings, and city officials could use for community forums. Inkster Police Chief William Riley says the center is a great asset for the city, adding, "It's really a boon, not just to the people here that live in housing, but also the city as a whole because now we have a place for the police or even the fire department, if we want to come and impart some information to the citizens, if there's an issue that is going on in the community, we can meet with them here and have a conversation with them here."

Senior Accountant with the Inkster Housing Commission Frances Allen credits Cooper with bringing the EnVision Center to life once again. "He's been such an asset since he's been here, he's been opening doors and giving the tools needed to make a difference for our community."

Cooper explains the center will be open and staff will be available to assist residents even if special service providers may be unavailable. He plans on assessing input from the community to determine which services and programs will be most beneficial. On hand for the grand re-opening was DaJuawn Wallace, representative with Volunteers of America, to promote the organization's free medical profession training program which offers training in certified nurse assistant, licensed practical nursing, and medical assistant. Wallace says they plan to use the Inkster EnVision Center as a point of contact for enrollment in these programs. It is these kinds of programs Cooper is looking to attract and why he was eager to re-open the center. He adds that signage and a new website are on the way. "I knew we didn't have everything in place... but we didn't want all that to delay, we just said, 'Let's open it now that there are more measures in place and vaccinations are being given,'" he said. "Once we open it and get the momentum and people know, then we can get providers that can help us do certain things. I welcome anybody that wants to provide some sort of service to the residents; if there's someone that can teach resume building, job searching skills or just general computer skills."

Inkster Housing Director Aaron Cooper, Mayor Patrick Wimberly along with Will Miller, Housing Commissioner visited with guests and residents at the Inkster EnVision Center, made possible by HUD.

Hours for the Inkster EnVision Center will be Monday and Wednesday from 1 to 4:30 p.m. and Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Hours may change as interest increases. For more information on the Inkster EnVision Center, contact Aaron Cooper at [email protected].