August 2019

         Hello to the Rebuilding Together Southeast Michigan community! My name is Emma and I’ll be serving with Rebuilding Together Southeast Michigan for the next ten and a half months as an AmeriCorp Outreach Coordinator. Many people wonder why I would want to do an AmeriCorp service year. To answer that, during university, I really found my home through service organizations. Within those organizations, I became dedicated and passionate about doing meaningful strong direct service, being involved in my community, and working towards being an active citizen. So following my graduation, AmeriCorps seemed like it might just be the perfect fit for me. I joined hoping that it would give me a genuine opportunity to bring those values with me into the “real world”. Although I’ve only just completed my national Rebuilding Together orientation, I feel confident that this position will allow me to do that.  

         I am Alexis Bruce a recent college graduate from the University of Michigan-Dearborn, where I earned my Bachelor’s Degree in Urban and Regional Studies. Growing up near Detroit’s Historic Boston-Edison District where there was an extreme diversity in housing and housing issues, I have always been intrigued by housing in Detroit. Throughout my college career, I have worked with organizations such as Detroit Eviction Defense and Habitat for Humanity, where I was exposed to some of the hardship that homeowner’s faced which furthered my interest in housing. With observation, experience, and research I began looking for an organization that I could join to help relieve some of the housing issues in my community. This brought me to AmeriCorps Rebuilding Together Southeast Michigan.