By: Maria Allard | Roseville-Eastpointe Eastsider | Published October 20, 2023
EASTPOINTE — Three local residents who each run their own nonprofit organizations have teamed up in an effort to further support the community.
Chineva Early, founder of the Bettye Harris Foundation; Robert Roscoe, founder of Lift Up A Child; and Edward Williams, founder of Let Me See Your Hands, are operating out of the same office building.
On the afternoon of Oct. 10, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the nonprofits’ business office at the Kennedy Building, located at 18121 E. Eight Mile Road, suite 105, in Eastpointe.
While the nonprofits are three separate entities and operate as such, Early, Roscoe and Williams also will share resources and contacts with each other that in turn will benefit those in need.
“Teamwork makes the dream work. We work so well together,” Roscoe said. “The win is when we can help one family. We help one client and another client tells another client.”
Guest speakers at the ribbon-cutting included Phil Rode, district director for Congressman John James, R-10th District; Macomb County Commissioner Sarah Lucido, D-Eastpointe; and Eastpointe Mayor Pro Tem Rob Baker.
“They all have a desire to help other people, and that’s what drew them together,” said Sandra Maki, event coordinator director for the Eastpointe-Roseville Chamber of Commerce, which helped organize the ribbon-cutting. “Their foundations are different, but they compliment each other, and they share their resources so they can build up Eastpointe and its citizens and bring them to a higher level.”
Maki said that the three charities assisted more than 1,200 people in July and 1,000 people in August. One event that helped was the community baby shower held July 22 at Gianna House in Eastpointe. In addition, all three organizations participate in the Metropolitan Detroit Diaper Bank and pool their resources to provide sanitary products for women.
Early, Roscoe and Williams are all members of the Eastpointe Community Schools Board of Education but are prohibited from discussing school business without a quorum.
Early holds a doctoral degree in management with a concentration in nonprofit leadership. She started the Bettye Harris Foundation in 2010 after her mother, Bettye Harris, died of laryngeal cancer, a head and neck disease. At the time, there wasn’t a lot of information about the disease, which prompted Early to start up the nonprofit.
“We do different service projects,” Early said. “We also help with teaching other nonprofits.”
One project within the Bettye Harris Foundation is Hat Not Hate, which is a national effort to stop bullying. The hats, which are distributed to schools, are handmade and must be 75% blue in color.
“We donate them to the schools,” Early said. “We have resources as far as Ohio and Chicago.”
For more information on the Bettye Harris Foundation, visit www.bettyeharris foundation.net.
Roscoe is the CEO of Lift Up A Child, and Christopher Harris is the clinical director. According to the nonprofit’s website, its mission is to “Lift Up A Child to Their Ability to Achieve & Excel to Their Highest Potential.” The website also states that the nonprofit “is dedicated to assisting foster children transitioning into adulthood with self-sufficient capabilities.”
When a family comes into the nonprofit, Roscoe and Harris conduct an intake interview to determine how to best support the child.
“They may need food, housing and education,” Roscoe said.
“We learn about their social and their psychological needs,” Harris said. “We focus on life skills, equity development and anything that’s appropriate for outpatient therapy. If the need is inpatient, we get them to the referral system.”
Lift Up A Child also manages a car seat initiative. For more information on the nonprofit, visit liftupachild.org.
Through Let Me See Your Hands, Williams wants to help burn victims who suffered fire loss and children who have been burned while they were abused.
“My goal is to partner with hotels,” Williams said. “When we have victims burned out (of their homes), I can send them to a motel so they can get their mind right.”
Williams will do what he can to provide resources to those families and individuals in need. Williams also plans to visit schools “to educate kids on fire safety.” He, too, wants to use Let Me See Your Hands as a way to mentor students at Eastpointe High School and Eastpointe Middle School.
“I just want to let kids know there is a chance for you to make it,” Williams said. “Our children are looking for structure. They’re looking for hope. They need to have someone they can relate to.”
For more information, visit letmeseeyourhands.org.