United Way for Southeastern Michigan

My first post is dedicated to a young AfricanAmerican teenage boy who was gunned down during a sweet-sixteen hall party in Oakland County one week before Christmas. This unsolved homicide as well as many others have left many young people feeling dismayed. Never before in my lifetime have I experienced so much brutal hostility towards your peers. Now we are left wondering how & where did we as adults & parents go so horribly wrong? I know we all have demands placed on our time in a variety of ways, but what's left for our children at the end of the day, not much. As a community, what happens to one family, affects us all. Therefore we need to go back to the times when it was okay to 'chestise' someone elses child without worrying about any repercussion from the parent. We need to return to that tight-knit community from days gone by. Bring back the blockclubs & recreation centers. The skating rinks & movie theaters. The summer jobs & swimming pools. Keep the libraries & zoo the open.

Stop taking away from our children! And start LOVING them for who they are and just maybe they'll have a chance in this world to shine.