Hero Story

The Manistique Community Treehouse Center mission is to promote the diversity of individuals in our community, the mental and physical well-being of our youth, and inclusion of people of all ages and abilities using holistic interventions. Our purpose is providing programs with a unique focus on inclusion for Persons with Disabilities, the promotion of collaboration with multicultural understanding, and diversity in the counseling process.

Young Adults & Working Families
Our organization supports young adults (returning citizens and unemployed persons), as well as working families by providing workforce development and training opportunities with Solar Energy training, as well as our Financial Literacy Classes and supports to help ensure that those we are working with are able to manage their income to support economic mobility and self-sufficiency.
Our work also supports families with individuals who have disabilities. These disabilities can be physical, developmental, or other. We provide advocacy, as well as supportive services to help families navigate work-life balance and provide services to address needs that medical providers, insurers, and personal finances cannot address. We have helped around 200 families and numerous returning citizens.

Active Lifestyles
Our organization highlights the importance of being outdoors as part of mental health and therapy. Our gardens provide both a venue for mental health supports, but also health and wellness programs, like our fitness classes. Our Treehouse Project will provide an additional public space that champions active lifestyles and getting outdoors. A few events and activities include the Sidewalk Festival, garden giveaway, flooding assistance events with Senator Stephanie Chang and State Representative Joe Tate, numerous gardening events, Covid Vaccination events, and emergency power plug-ups.

Nonprofit Support & Innovation
Manistique Community Treehouse is working to build capacity and develop its innovative program modules to encourage more residents and nonprofits to embrace solar power while saving and making money. Our unique structure (and proven track record for implementation of our current solar station and solar panels installed on 25 homes in the neighborhood) is one-of-a-kind in Detroit, and we believe with support we can replicate what we are doing in other areas of the City, as well as across the State and Nation. We have provided school supplies, food, PPE, clothing, hygiene items, gift cards, laundry soup, and books.

Economic Development
Our Solar Power model will help spur economic development while supporting residents. In 2018, during a major power outage, our solar energy station was able to help support residents in Jefferson-Chalmers charge their phones, power laptops for work and school, and more. We believe our model for social entrepreneurship can be used to help generate revenue to power programs that support job training, like ours! We have raised a total of $225,000 through in-kind donations, as well as a $25,000 grant.

For over four years, The Manistique Community Treehouse Center is a grassroots, non-profit organization focused on promoting holistic empowerment for all individuals regardless of background, ability, age, race, or gender. The intergenerational programs help people of all ages manage and overcome stress and anxiety, have more fun, spend more time outside, and build financial literacy. The organization has mental health counselors serving adults, youth, veterans, and People with Disabilities. They use a range of occupational therapy strategies including creative horticultural therapy like gardening, flower arranging, and nutritional workshops. They also offer art, music, and animal therapy.

Their counselors use innovative strategies to help individuals take positive steps towards their health and wellbeing and improve their quality of life. They work to help people with grief and depression, anxiety, aggression, and social pressures. The center strives to raise public awareness of the wellness needs of their residents through seminars; therapeutic groups; individual, couples, and family counseling. They offer a multicultural space with a mission of inclusion, respecting the worldviews of all persons regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, marital status, sexual orientation, or physical ability.

The Creative Empowerment Garden is a garden for mental health therapy through greening and growing. It is a wheelchair accessible and is a flexible pubic space that has been use for a variety of events. The garden has been designed with occupational therapy as a core purpose. The garden space is wheelchair accessible with wheelchair ramps and raised garden beds. The space also includes solar panels for emergency power and has been used by residents during neighborhood power outages. All of the produce grown in the garden is free for those who come and volunteer in the garden or donate time in other ways.

The Manistique Community Treehouse Center is currently fundraising a new project in their community. Due to COVID-19, their building budget has gone up to $700, 000 of which they already have $200,000. They are still in need of $500,000 and can start the build with $175,000. All of the programming for the project is done both physically and virtually. If interested in supporting the build, donations can be made at https://donorbox.org/manistique-community-treehouse-center-build.