Page 9 - 2025 Summer Our Hands

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

Inspiring Student
Initiative Supporting
New Americans
Two students from Clifford
Smart Middle School (Walled
Lake Schools) were inspired to
take action after reading
“Refugee” by Alan Gratz as part
Cheers to our 2025 Foster Care Grads! of their GAP program. Moved
Ticket to Dream Foundation and Famous Footwear stores nationwide by the story, they chose to
team up to celebrate graduating foster youth with gift cards and collect hygiene items for
handwritten cards. Samaritas is excited that 28 foster youth are refugee families in their
graduating from high school as part of the Class of 2025! Each graduate community.
received encouraging notes letting them know and feel that they have a With the support of their
community cheering them on, that they are supported, their hard work is families, the boys assembled
seen and celebrated as they reach this achievement. care baskets to help New
Americans feel more welcome.
Their kindness and initiative
are a powerful example of
youth making a positive
impact.

Samaritas Staff Enjoy
Iftar Dinner with the
First Lady
On March 27, the First
Lady, Dr. Sonia Hassan-
Duggan, and Detroit Mayor
Clawson Public School District Faculty Walks Alongside Mike Duggan hosted an
Samaritas on Martin Luther King Jr. Day Iftar Dinner at their home.
Twenty Clawson faculty members honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day by Samaritas team members
assembling 25 personal and cleaning kits for refugee families served by Brittany Gillett, Mary
Samaritas’ New Americans program in metro Detroit. Principal Kelly Horne Dickinson, Jafar Almosawi
shared, “Coming together to give back and make a real difference is a welcome and Ismail Yusuf with
change from our usual focus on teaching goals.”
refugee families in
Thank you, Trojans, for helping refugee families feel at home! Samaritas’ care, were in
attendance.

“Navigate to Emmanual Lutheran
Communicate” Mobile Volunteers
Workplace Digital Many thanks to the team at
Literacy and Learning Emmanual Lutheran
Program Southfield who helped
Secure and convenient mobile assemble and load 40 Hygiene
lab units from the Verizon Kits for our New American
Foundation hold new clients. Your thoughtful
Chromebooks and access to generosity and outreach
English and workforce skills ministry for Lent is very
learning platforms.
appreciated.

5th Annual Faith and Community Leaders Breakfast Tackles Youth
Mental Health
On May 14, Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian Church hosted its 5th Annual Faith and Community Leaders
Breakfast, bringing together 200 leaders from diverse faiths, schools, nonprofits, and public service to
address the urgent crisis in youth mental health.

Key speakers included Carol Mastroianni (BBCC), Anthony Muller (Samaritas), and Jill Smith (Common
Ground), who shared insights on youth behavioral health and suicide prevention. A breakout session led
by Muller featured students in recovery from Oakland University’s Grizz Recovery Program. One student
movingly shared, “I finally felt that rock bottom... That was when I heard God for the first time.”

This powerful morning of connection, learning, and hope emphasized a shared mission: to build a
healthier future for our youth—together.

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