1. People’s Partners
Summer/Fall 2014
Wrapping up the Summer
Summer Day Camp at Delray and Hamtramck youth centers has come to
an end and the kids have said goodbye to all the energetic Summer in the
City volunteers who worked with them since camp began June 23. Youth at
both centers spent time outdoors- at Veterans Park in Hamtramck or on the
extensive soccer, football fields and playground at Delray. Indoors, children
created artwork in the crafts room, played in the gym, read in the library or
worked/played in the computer lab. Hamtramck and Delray accommodated
approximately forty children each day for summer camp
The youth enjoyed several field trips over the summer, including the Detroit
International Art Museum, the Historical Museum, the Science Center and
the Detroit Zoo. Several. In coordination with Cooking Matters, on August
6, they l visited an urban farm in Detroit. Camp closed with a “Grand Finale”
event where all PCS partners, Summer in the City volunteers, joined youth
from Hamtramck and Delray centers for field games, information sessions,
food and fun.
Dr. Montgomery, Program Director at Delray Neighborhood House, extended
summer camp for both centers this year to include a trip to the Family
Aquatic Center at Chandler Park on August 18th
and Gross Hills Nature
Conservatory August 19th
.
Peter Hodges, Program Director for the Youth Community Center in
Hamtramck, provided a structured environment and schedule for the kids
attending summer day camp, beginning every morning with breakfast
Volunteers from Chrysler joined Executive Director Tom Cervenak for a day of
cleaning, repainting, and repairing inside and outside the community center.
Volunteers replaced old materials with new, cleaned and resurfaced the
basketball court, maintained and repaired the lawn and playground
equipment.
Clean up Day at Delray Neighborhood House
Delray NeighborhoodHouse: Program Manager Dr.
CassandraMontgomery with Administrative Assistant
Elisabeth Swain
Hamtramck: ProgramManager Peter Hodges with
Recreation Director Jane Ramsey and Recreation Worker
Bonnie Conrad
People’s Community Services Newsletter
Field tripto Detroit Zoo
Playground at Delray
Neighborhood House

2. People’s Partners Summer 2014
2
Preparing for Fall
Program Director Peter Hodges
provides a regular schedule for the
youth after school program at
Hamtramck’s youth center.
Recreation Director Bonnie Conrad
and Assistant Recreation Director,
Jane Ramsey provide life skills
education and individual and group
counseling to address any issues the
children may have and provide anger
management and conflict resolution
skills. During back to school
programing at Hamtramck, the on
staff resident school teacher, Willa
Blow provides daily tutoring.
This year, Delray’s Annual Back to
School Health Fair was held August
New Programs Keep Energy up at PCS
screenings, immunization checks, hearing
tests, and other services to help kids off
to a healthy start this school year.
Dr. Montgomery, Program Director at
Delray is excited about several other
programs offered for children at Delray,
including:
“Arts and Scraps”
Project using the STEM method of
teaching, which helps children learn how
to solve meaningful problems in the real
world. Through research on simple
machines (“push-pull” technology),
children will meet once a week for six
weeks and end with a miniature soap
Dance and Vocals training:
Amy West, from the University of
Michigan Department of Dance
comes in to teach creative dance
while her husband, opera singer
and professor Steven West, teaches
vocals.
Creating Healthy Eating Habits
Delray Neighborhood House and
Hamtramck Community Center
partners with Cooking Matters- for
eight weeks, children will learn
about meal planning on a budget,
healthy recipes, and how to
prepare the meals. Bonnie Conrad
runs the program at
Hamtramck, where they
Tom took some time out to discuss
what makes PCS special. “We’re not
here to dispense charity; we’re here to
be part of the community and to work
with the community to grow. “A friend
of mine put it well once: ‘we’re in your
neighborhood.’”
“PCS is unique because we have a
system of community centers that
really no longer exists in Detroit today.
There is not anyone here anymore that
has the system that we do. And while
there may be other systems like this in
other parts
Looking forward, Tom said, “We’ve
been able to expand our senior
services to include wellness, home
care, transportation and navigation
services. We are now looking to
expand our youth centers.”
A Word From the Executive Director
Summer Camp fieldtripto theDetroit
Zoo
PCS Executive Director,TomCervenak
of the country, there are not a lot of
private non-profit community centers
like ours here in Michigan anymore.
Most of the old settlement systems
closed long ago.”
Tom is very proud of his staff. “We
have a great caring staff…they’re
here for service; they want to provide
service and help people. We’ve also
had great support from funders like
the Detroit Agency on Aging, Wayne
Metropolitan Community Action
Agency and United Way, which have
helped up develop a lot of new
Dance Classat
Delray
Neighborhood

3. People’s Partners Summer 2014
3
Rosaline Haidar is Basic Needs
Program Director at the
Hamtramck Neighborhood
Center. Ms. Haidar announced
that this year’s foreclosure event
sponsored by MISHDA (Michigan
State Housing Development
Authority) will be held at the
Hamtramck Community Center on
Joseph Compau this September
27 from 10 am to 1:00 pm. There
will be several resources available
at the event to help people going
through or on the edge of
foreclosure.
Basic Needs helps provide
resources for people in need of
food and medical assistance,
housing and utility assistance, and
family services through DHS.
Ms Haidar stated that “we provide
at least 90 people with food
through Focus Hope and Fresh
Fruits & Vegetables through
Gleaners.” We service Wayne
county residents with emergency
services. The resources we provide
are from various agencies and the
state. We also provide medical
transportation and employment
assistance.
Food programs are funded by a
grant from Wayne Metropolitan,
which provide boxes of food/bags
of groceries each month; The
Focus Hope program serves over
60 families in downtown Detroit
who qualify (below 25% of federal
poverty level).
Matrix Human Services’ wellness
program for seniors provides
transportation to and from three senior
apartments for wellness checks, exercise
and nutrition education on Wednesdays,
Thursdays and Fridays from 10-11.
Yasmen, Bay, Manager of navigation at
Matrix works with navigator Michelle
Williams, LBSW who started at Matrix
three months ago. Both Yasmen and
Michelle now split a case load of 128
clients, but plan to have up to 230 by the
end of September.
The Matrix navigation program provides
out reach in Detroit neighborhoods. gives
referrals for resources and services, such
as needs for home repairs, nutrition and
wellness, medical care/insurance,
disability services, food, utility and
housing assistance.
Matrix recently extended their Focus
Hope food program to 2 different sites.
Matrix hired two new nutrition advocates
this summer. Chef Jeff Zaphor started
working at Matrix last July. He runs the
new cooking classes and teaches
nutrition classes on Thursdays from 11-
12. He also offers information on food
safety and nutritious recipes for those on
specific diets due to various medical
conditions. Melanye Lawson, another
new nutrition advocate will be working
these new programs as well.
Continued
Senior Center Provides
Wellness and Activities
in Hamtramck
Grace Holness is in charge of
Senior Services at Hamtramck’s
Senior Center and Matrix Human
Services Center: The Open
House at Jos Campau wellness
center took place Aug 29.
Several venders were there,
providing blood pressure checks,
nutrition information, and
enhanced fitness workouts.
The Senior Center received visits
from student interns at the
University of Michigan last
summer, including several of the
University Athletes. Student
interns talked and played games
with seniors and learned about
the Hamtramck community. Rose Haidar,Basic NeedsProgram
Manager
Seniors’ Community Garden

4. 420 Leigh Street
Detroit, MI, 48209
People’s Partners Summer 2014
Agency Affiliations
• ACCESS
• Matrix Human Services
• Hamtramck Adult Education
• University of Michigan - School of Social Work
• Summer In The City
• United Way of Southeastern Michigan
• Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern
Michigan
• United Neighborhood Centers of America
(U.N.C.A.)
• SMART
• Detroit Area Agency on Aging (DAAA)
• City of Detroit Bureau of Substance Abuse
• Hamtramck United Social Services
• Michigan Neighborhood Partnership
• City of Detroit Recreation Department
Wayne County Health Department
People’s Community Services