Cultivating a movement for kids

in the fertile ground of Detroit's neighborhoods

Tonya Allen, the Foundation's vice president of program, is the architect of the Foundation's 10-year $100 million Good Neighborhoods program. A native Detroiter, Allen attended Cass Tech High Schools, and has a bachelor's degree in sociology, and master's degrees in social work and public health, from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Crain's Detroit Business named Allen a 2007 40 Under 40 winner, an annual award that recognizes Detroit's emerging leaders. Allen joined The Skillman Foundation in 2004. She has also worked as a program officer for the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and Thompson-McCully Foundation, and as executive director of Detroit Parent Network. She discusses the history and strategy of the Good Neighborhoods program with William Hanson, Skillman Foundation director of communications & technology.

WH: Can you explain the origins of the Foundation's Good Neighborhoods program?

TA: Our neighborhood work is driven by Carol's (Skillman Foundation President & CEO Carol Goss) vision and experience in communities. First, she is passionate about helping kids with the greatest need. Second, she draws from her work in the Northend community in Detroit. She led one of the first comprehensive community efforts in the country: The KYIP initiative at the Kellogg Foundation. She learned a lot about what it takes to make neighborhoods better for kids. We built on her work there and my own experiences as a staff person managing the Annie E. Casey's Rebuilding Communities Initiative on the east side of Detroit, and running Detroit Parent Network, helped.

WH: How was the Good Neighborhoods program developed?

TA: The first thing we did was to determine what kids need in their communities to be safe, healthy, well educated and prepared for the future. We looked at our own grantmaking to see what was working and what wasn't. Then we talked to lots of nonprofit executives, residents and community leaders to make sure that their voices were heard. We took a hard look at qualitative and quantitative data about neighborhoods. We wanted to know how children were doing. We looked at key indicators and Census data. Then program staff, and later our Trustees, toured several neighborhoods in Detroit to get a close-up look at what was going on in the neighborhoods. We also brought in outside experts to help us get the initiative off the ground. We considered what hasn't worked in other parts of the country. This effort, we hope, avoids those mistakes.

WH: As the Good Neighborhoods program is moving into the final two neighborhoods -- Cody/Rouge and the Northend -- what have we learned?

TA: The last two years have really demonstrated what we believed going into this work that there are hundreds of thousands of Detroiters who want this city to come back. All they were waiting for was someone to ask them to get involved. The other thing we learned is that people will do things differently if you just ask them to do so.

WH: What do you mean?

TA: There is tremendous collaboration going on among the philanthropic, private and public sectors. The City of Detroit's recognition that neighborhoods and city services are important is an example. Nonprofits are working differently too. They're not being territorial and are more willing to take risks.

WH: Skillman is taking risks, too, right?

TA: Absolutely! We're telling everyone that this new work is going to pay more dividends for Detroit children. So, if we don't do it right, it is unlikely people will be willing to continue to invest in this work. Not just in Detroit, but across the country. So we carry a great burden.

WH: So why are we taking these risks?

TA: We want to have a bigger impact than we've had in the past. Although our previous grantmaking was successful for the kids it touched, it didn't affect enough kids. I always liked that Moms Mabley quote -- "If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got." We had to stop doing our work the traditional way or we were going to get the same old results -- which don't have enough impact. I remember several years ago the late Bill Beckham (former Skillman Foundation president ) and I were talking about the urgency of Detroit, and how so few people were paying attention to its needs. I've thought about that conversation a lot. If we're going to restore Detroit we have to do it right now, and it has to be our chief priority.

WH: What do you hope the Good Neighborhoods program does for Detroit?

TA: Transform neighborhoods to be healthy environments for children. We're trying to build a system of care for children from ages zero to 18. We're enlisting the help of residents, parents, and adults to create a city that works for all kids. I believe we can do that and change the culture of this city to be very responsive to children. If we do that, Detroit will be a place where people want to live and invest in.

WH: What is the hardest thing about this neighborhood work?

TA: Quantifying what we're doing and showing success. I have no doubt that in a a few years we will be there. But right now it's very hard to see. These are hugely complex problems we're dealing with -- 50 or 60 years of decline. It's not realistic to turn it around overnight. Therefore, we have to be patient even though we have high expectations and we will hold ourselves accountable. I hope we can improve the educational environments for children, and increase the number of caring adults who interact with these children. If we do that, we will create a tipping point where it will be easier for children to be safe, to avoid crime, to go to college, and to be involved in the reclaiming of their communities.

WH: What process is in place for evaluating the work?

TA: We have engaged Brandeis University's Heller School for Social Policy and Management to facilitate the evaluation for the entire program. We also have a national panel of advisors who will help us think through our evaluation. It's fundamentally going to look at the neighborhood trajectory, and see if we can make it go up rather than down. The thing about evaluation is that we can't promise causality. So we're not suggesting our work will do that. But what we are sure of is that we can help create an environment that breeds creativity and civility, and we can make sure that there are adults out there who are looking out for children. And we want other funders, other champions for Detroit to get involved. But can I say that Skillman grantmaking will do that alone? No, I can't. But I can say that our resources will create the catalysts for change in these neighborhoods.

WH: What exactly is Skillman's role?

TA: Two roles: Grantmaker and change maker. Our grantmaking will fund projects that help kids and make neighborhoods better places. The change making aspect is really about attracting others to the community so that our collective investments create critical mass. Together all children -- not just a few children -- can benefit.

WH: Explain change making?

TA: The Foundation has always been proactive in championing ideas and getting others to support them. We have a rich history with this through grantmaking initiatives: Parenting Matters, Youth Sports and Recreation, Schools of the 21st Century. Now, though, we want to take advantage of our clout as a civic player to influence others to support our agenda for children. We think people trust our opinion and our work, so we want to tap that goodwill to help move forward efforts that benefit kids. I believe that there are lots of people who don't live in the city anymore who still care deeply about Detroit. They are successful people. And we want to tap their resources and talents to help the city.

WH: What do the six neighborhoods tell us about Detroit in 2007?

TA: They tell us that Detroit's demographics are changing. We're losing our middle class and becoming poorer. The neighborhoods are housing poorer and poorer families. Families have moved to the outskirts of the city where housing stock is stronger, yet these neighborhoods don't have the social service supports out there. We haven't paid attention to these neighborhoods. Lots of kids live in these neighborhoods, but, unfortunately, there are not enough resources to support them or their families.

WH: Can you explain what a natural leader is?

TA: The concept of a natural leader, or natural helper, is that there are people already in communities who are doing good things. So we want to support them. In Brightmoor, Kathy Aska is a prime example. She decided there was no reason that Brightmoor shouldn't be clean. So she organized a community clean-up with her neighbors. She also has play equipment in her backyard, and she encouraged kids in her neighborhood to use it so they can be safe and happy. Nobody told her to do this. She did it because she knew it was right. She understood how she could help and make it better. Her contribution wasn't big in scope but it was big to the kids in her community. So we have to figure out ways to keep her going so she doesn't burn out, and find others like her. Natural leaders play a critical role whether The Skillman Foundation is there or not; they are the backbone to any community.

WH: What about the role of young people?

TA: So often as adults we believe we know what's best for kids, and for the most part, we do. But sometimes we're clueless and we forget what it's like to be young. So they keep us young, in touch with their reality and give us direction. Young people really have the vision that we don't. They see the possibilities in ways adults don't. They are not confined to the same boundaries and limitations that adults adhere to. The best example of this was in Southwest Detroit when that community was deciding its goal. Adults were backing safety and education. Youth in that neighborhood really wanted youth development. They told the adults that positive youth development will address safety and education as well as the whole child. They really took a leadership role in all of that and adults followed. So I know that young people can lead and inspire, but only when adults are smart enough to allow them to do so.

WH: Do you ever fear that the Good Neighborhoods program will fail?

TA: No, I don't. I really believe in the power of people. The Foundation's money is just a carrot to get people involved. But people are the ultimate resource and the ones who will be responsible for making this work successful. I'm not afraid of failing at all. I'm more afraid of what will happen if we don't do this work or if we don't take a stand for children. This isn't a job for me. It's a ministry and a way of life. I grew up in a really poor community in Detroit, and I have been able to be successful,but I also haven't forgotten all the people I knew who didn't make it out. That's what drives me.

WH: What did you learn from that period in your life?

TA: What's helped me be successful was not a set of programs. And so I don't think that a few programs are going to save kids. What saves kids are adults in neighborhoods who care about them being successful. So my work at Skillman is aimed at helping to support those adults in the neighborhoods who can influence kids and make a difference. I don't live in the same neighborhood, but I'm still of the neighborhood. I know the challenges that exist there. I may not experience those challenges and conditions anymore, but I haven't forgotten them. You can turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones. That's the one truth I know.

WH: Since this work started, Skillman has added a lot of new staff, you've become a vice president, and you had a baby. The last couple of years have been eventful for you and for the Foundation, haven't they?

TA: That's true, and I've been blessed with having a wonderful family . But I want kids in these neighborhoods to have the same opportunities that my own children have. So many kids in America -- like my own kids do -- grow up with so much. And kids in these neighborhoods have so little. There's a picture in my office of a little girl in diapers who is playing alone in a Detroit street. I keep it up as a reminder of why we're in neighborhoods and why we can't turn our backs on kids -- even if their parents have. I hope none of us at The Skillman Foundation loses sight of that. That's what our work is about.