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Pontiac
Hero Story
Talking about a success story, how often can you say that you know a guy who was forced to leave his home state due to finding himself in a world of trouble as a child, go to school in Louisiana and obtain two degrees’, come back home to Michigan to impact change in his city, leave Corporate America and go on to create a million-dollar non-profit to help thousands of families and children in need. Well, you can say you have seen it now.
We have seen in the news the woes of a mid-size city in Michigan called Pontiac. This city fell in to receivership (state control) from a municipality and a school district standpoint. It hit the national stage heavily with the destruction of the Pontiac Silverdome. This city was stripped of everything, down to all of its valued assets. This man decided to walk away from a corporate management position from a Fortune 100 company to build a service non-profit from the ground up. He did this to fill in the gaps that were left by the state process. What makes it even more special is, he was originally looking to do it with his father who served in the Michigan State House of Representatives and the past Mayor of his city. Unfortunately, he passed away 8 months after his last day in office. Kaino decided to move forward with the work and build it in honor of his father. This organization turns 11 years old this year. It is now a million-dollar non-profit which pushed out services of close to 3 million last year. Including giving scholarship money to Michigan kids. How often are you able to say that you left a six-figure job to voluntarily earn substantially less only to be a hero in your hometown and surrounding vicinity. That is what I call a true Michigan success story.
When it comes to impact, let me give you a few things that he has done:
• In the year of 2023: he secured grant funding and financial support in the amount of: $1,775,000 for the communities that he serves.
• Over the last 2 years, he and this Foundation have issued over: $1,430,000 in academic scholarships to children and young adults through fundraising and contractual philanthropy from various institutions of higher learning.
• He created an event in 2022 called Christmas In November: He created a full blown partnership with Amazon Corporation. From this relationship they brought in 3.1 MILLION DOLLARS in products (over the past 2 years) to give away to the community of Pontiac. This blessed close to 3,300 families.
• He created a program called the Marked 4 Success: To provide a double phase Soft Skill training regimen that HAS BEEN MADE TO BE MANDATORY FOR EVERY 11TH & 12TH GRADER IN PONTIAC (Public & Charter) to go through for them to graduate. He has been doing this since 2012.
• He created Mission to Feed 3000 Homeless Initiative: This has over 350 volunteers come together to create 3000 sacked meals and they were distributed to all Homeless Shelters and communities within: Wayne, Oakland, Genesee and Macomb County.
• He serves as the Chairman of the City of Pontiac Anti-Violence Commission. The city over the last 3 years has had a record number of murders and violent acts. He was selected to lead the movement to turn it around.
Although Kaino came from a solid family upbringing with both parents, he was not immune to the hazards of youth life in an urban environment. When he was in junior high school, he caught a juvenile case. While on probation, he ended up getting into another violent altercation in his senior year. Due to his history, the court decided to try him as an adult at 17 years old and, court proceedings had begun. It was a forgone conclusion that he was on his way to prison. However, divine providence interceded and thwarted an attempt on his life from a group of kids seeking retaliation for the aforementioned altercation; and further sent his life on a different trajectory through his Grambling State University education back to the streets and walls of Pontiac to create an environment of change. He will be the first to tell you that he owes a lot of people and that is a deal that he doesn't plan to break.
He has traveled around the country as a motivational speaker and has mentored thousands of kids over the years. Most frequently, he served as the Commencement Speaker for Oakland University this past December. In the past 10 years, he has given out and created close to 3 million dollars in scholarships to deserving kids coming from disadvantage backgrounds. He has used every bit of his challenged and flawed younger life as a catalyst for change.
Pontiac
Hero Story
Talking about a success story, how often can you say that you know a guy who was forced to leave his home state due to finding himself in a world of trouble as a child, go to school in Louisiana and obtain two degrees’, come back home to Michigan to impact change in his city, leave Corporate America and go on to create a million-dollar non-profit to help thousands of families and children in need. Well, you can say you have seen it now.
We have seen in the news the woes of a mid-size city in Michigan called Pontiac. This city fell in to receivership (state control) from a municipality and a school district standpoint. It hit the national stage heavily with the destruction of the Pontiac Silverdome. This city was stripped of everything, down to all of its valued assets. This man decided to walk away from a corporate management position from a Fortune 100 company to build a service non-profit from the ground up. He did this to fill in the gaps that were left by the state process. What makes it even more special is, he was originally looking to do it with his father who served in the Michigan State House of Representatives and the past Mayor of his city. Unfortunately, he passed away 8 months after his last day in office. Kaino decided to move forward with the work and build it in honor of his father. This organization turns 11 years old this year. It is now a million-dollar non-profit which pushed out services of close to 3 million last year. Including giving scholarship money to Michigan kids. How often are you able to say that you left a six-figure job to voluntarily earn substantially less only to be a hero in your hometown and surrounding vicinity. That is what I call a true Michigan success story.
When it comes to impact, let me give you a few things that he has done:
• In the year of 2023: he secured grant funding and financial support in the amount of: $1,775,000 for the communities that he serves.
• Over the last 2 years, he and this Foundation have issued over: $1,430,000 in academic scholarships to children and young adults through fundraising and contractual philanthropy from various institutions of higher learning.
• He created an event in 2022 called Christmas In November: He created a full blown partnership with Amazon Corporation. From this relationship they brought in 3.1 MILLION DOLLARS in products (over the past 2 years) to give away to the community of Pontiac. This blessed close to 3,300 families.
• He created a program called the Marked 4 Success: To provide a double phase Soft Skill training regimen that HAS BEEN MADE TO BE MANDATORY FOR EVERY 11TH & 12TH GRADER IN PONTIAC (Public & Charter) to go through for them to graduate. He has been doing this since 2012.
• He created Mission to Feed 3000 Homeless Initiative: This has over 350 volunteers come together to create 3000 sacked meals and they were distributed to all Homeless Shelters and communities within: Wayne, Oakland, Genesee and Macomb County.
• He serves as the Chairman of the City of Pontiac Anti-Violence Commission. The city over the last 3 years has had a record number of murders and violent acts. He was selected to lead the movement to turn it around.
Although Kaino came from a solid family upbringing with both parents, he was not immune to the hazards of youth life in an urban environment. When he was in junior high school, he caught a juvenile case. While on probation, he ended up getting into another violent altercation in his senior year. Due to his history, the court decided to try him as an adult at 17 years old and, court proceedings had begun. It was a forgone conclusion that he was on his way to prison. However, divine providence interceded and thwarted an attempt on his life from a group of kids seeking retaliation for the aforementioned altercation; and further sent his life on a different trajectory through his Grambling State University education back to the streets and walls of Pontiac to create an environment of change. He will be the first to tell you that he owes a lot of people and that is a deal that he doesn't plan to break.
He has traveled around the country as a motivational speaker and has mentored thousands of kids over the years. Most frequently, he served as the Commencement Speaker for Oakland University this past December. In the past 10 years, he has given out and created close to 3 million dollars in scholarships to deserving kids coming from disadvantage backgrounds. He has used every bit of his challenged and flawed younger life as a catalyst for change.