Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Anika Jane Beamer creates parties for 1st-3rd graders served by the St. Vincent and Sarah Fisher Center, which once operated in Farmington Hills.
Editor's Note: Anika Jane Beamer's story has been selected for Huffington Post's Greatest Person of the Week honors. See more stories like hers at huffingtonpost.com. A thought came to Anika Jane Beamer more than a year ago, as she sat folding clothes on the couch in her family's Farmington home. Today, her idea is a non-profit organization that is making life a little brighter for children at St. Vincent and Sarah Fisher Center in Detroit, an education center for at-risk children. "I thought it would be cool if kids could do birthday parties for other kids," said Beamer, whose 14-year-old twin brothers were adopted from the Center when it operated as an orphanage in Farmington Hills. With a $600 grant through her church, Hope Lutheran…
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Mallory Brown's World Clothes Line moves in new directions.
Editor's note: This article was originally published on Nov. 8, 2011. This is just one example of the many people making a difference in the Farmington area. Read more about those people here, and leave a comment below to tell us about other people are making a difference every day. When 26-year-old Mallory Brown headed to Peru in March 2011, she planned to deliver clothing she collected through her business, World Clothes Line (WCL), to impoverished people in a mountain village. When she arrived, the village wasn't there. Heavy rainfall led to landslides that destroyed it. The 2004 Farmington High School (FHS) graduate founded WCL in 2010, with a mission to collect clothing and deliver it around the world. In November 2011, she was …
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
These Farmington area residents are making a difference in the world.
This past year, we met a number of people who are going the extra mile to help others here and in other countries. Just in case you missed them, here are their inspiring stories: Long-time Farmington Hills resident Don Nichols ran 7.5 miles in Tennessee to help stock the small African country's first public library. He connected with Rwanda through a young refugee who came to Oakland Community College to prepare for a career in nursing. Jill Babcock says the City of Farmington immediately made accommodations for her wheelchair when she was appointed to the planning commission. She can't say the same thing about her employer. This would be a problem in any case, but Babcock's employer is the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, and …
Friday, November 16, 2012
Farmington Lit Ladies Book Club has organized a Barnes & Noble fundraiser to get books into the hands young women who are rebuilding their lives.
A group of Farmington women who love reading believe they can pass that love along and improve the lives of hundreds of young women at Vista Maria, a residential treatment program in Dearborn. Farmington Lit Ladies Book Club will raise money to purchase books through a four-day fundraiser Nov. 23-27 at Barnes & Noble book stores. During that time, anyone who makes a purchase at any Barnes & Noble can request that their purchase amount be applied to the Vista Maria Book Fair fundraiser, by mentioning Bookfair ID 10917136. The goal, club member Mary Brown said, is to purchase appropriate books for teens who need support and encouragement as they put their lives back together after family difficulties or minor run-ins with the law. The …
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6800 Orchard Lake Rd, West Bloomfield, MI
Barnes & Noble
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42.41066
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Haggerty Rd & 6 Mile Rd, Northville, MI
Barnes & Noble
/articles/farmington-women-raise-funds-to-share-love-of-reading-and-help-teen-girls
/locations/8150182
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Paul and Nancy Berrigan say the John Paul Secondary School, which opened in 2007 with 14 students, last year served more than 150. And now they need your help.
Paul and Nancy Berrigan's journey from Farmington Hills to Chelekura, Uganda began in 2005, when a missionary priest visited St. Fabian Catholic Church, where the couple has belonged for 20 years. "He just kind of touched us," Paul Berrigan told members of the Farmington Rotary Club at a recent meeting. The priest talked about how much further dollars go in Uganda, because the people there have so little. The Berrigans came up with the idea of building a small school, and their dream became a reality in 2007. And it has grown each year since then, to the point where the couple is now reaching out to ask others for assistance. They named the John Paul Secondary School after their fathers, and welcomed 14 ninth grade students that first …
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Dr. Peter Lichtenberg's latest project is a tool that can help elders avoid being scammed.
Since Sept. 16, 1986, Farmington resident Dr. Peter Lichtenberg has devoted his career to working with his elders. Earlier this month, he received an award that recognizes a life-time of contributions to the field of psychology and aging. Lichtenberg continues to explore new ways to improve the quality of life for seniors; a project he expects to complete next year will help elders avoid losing their life savings to scams. Now head of the Wayne State University Institute of Gerontology (IOG), Lichtenberg, 53, traveled to Orlando, FL to accept the prestigious American Psychological Association Committee on Aging Award for the Advancement of Psychology and Aging. The award recognizes his professional and volunteer efforts to advance a field…
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Jill Babcock says the City of Farmington immediately made accommodations when she was appointed to the planning commission. She can't say the same thing about her employer.
Attend a Farmington Planning Commission meeting, and you'll likely see commissioner Jill Babcock, who uses a wheelchair, roll up a ramp to the dais. "I commend the City of Farmington," she said. "From my first meeting, I was met with this inclusive attitude that amazes me." But while the city made sure accommodations were in place, Babcock is still waiting for her employer, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), to do the same. A senior research specialist, she was transferred from Lansing to Cadillac Place in Detroit last fall and quickly found obstacle after obstacle as she tried to get to work. (Read more about the lawsuit and alleged violations.) She tried for months to get the problems fixed, but after she received an …
Friday, June 29, 2012
Don Nichols will run 7.5 miles in Tennessee next month to help stock the small country's first public library.
Fifteen years ago, long-time Farmington Hills resident Dr. Don Nichols rode more than 2,000 miles on his bicycle, from Windsor, Ontario to Key West, FL, to raise funds for an organization close to his heart. On July 18, he's taking on another fundraising challenge, jogging 7.5 miles to help furnish and stock a library in Rwanda. Why 7.5 miles? Nichols is jogging his age. That's right – he's 75 years old. What drives this retired Oakland Community College (OCC) psychology professor is a passion for good health and for charity. "I got it from my mother," Nichols said in a wide-ranging interview Thursday at Mentobe Cafe in downtown Farmington. "She said 'Your job is to make the world a better place, and to help people whenever you can.'." …
Monday, December 19, 2011
Melissa Brodsky is creating a community of foreclosure stories on her blog.
In 2008, Melissa and Eric Brodsky worked with Countrywide Financial on a loan modification for their Farmington Hills home. Now, Countrywide no longer exists, and neither does the loan modification. For the past three years, the Brodskys have fought with Bank of America, which bought Countrywide in 2008, to keep the house. And Melissa Brodsky, an active and avid user of social media, has taken that battle to the Internet. What galls her is that when Bank of America took over the loan, it seemed like everything would work out. "They said we won't honor the agreement, but if you qualified for Countrywide's loan modification, you'll qualify for our program," she said. "Then they turned us down – four times." "If (Bank of America is) …
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
They are our mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmas, husbands, uncles, friends and neighbors — and they all fought breast cancer. These brave Michigan men and women shared their stories with Patch.
We went looking for faces of survival. We found inspiration. Patch asked Michigan women and men who have fought breast cancer to share their struggles, tears and triumphs with us during October – Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast cancer survivor Cynde Lebert, 59, of Canton, tells newly diagnosed women: “You'll be fine. You're alive and that's the most important thing.” Farmington Hills resident Dick Jaeger, 70, is one of the approximately 2,140 men diagnosed each year with breast cancer. "The answer is know your body and don't take anything for granted," Jaeger said. "Every day, I'm a cancer survivor," said Jean Bean, a 58-year-old mom, wife and interior designer from Rochester. "I don't obsess about it, but it's always there." Nancy …
Francine Pfitzenmaier
5:31 pm on Wednesday, April 17, 2013
We are so impressed with Anika Jane's compassion and willingness to help others. BRAVO!! Francine and Allan more ›