Toni McIlwain is one of our veteran community leaders, who has been a part of the Woodson Center’s Community Affiliate Network for over 30 years. Ms. McIlwain, one of our 2021 mini grant awardee, is using the seed money to transform lives in her community through her non-profit, Emmanuel Christian Men’s Home c/o Ravendale Community, Inc. in Roseville, Michigan.
Toni is providing housing that gives an opportunity for men that were once on drugs, incarcerated, and/or homeless, to turn their lives around for the better. Their mission is to produce an environment that allows each participant to move forward with their lives by providing the tools necessary to help them obtain job skills, find employment, and help them to find other ways to best utilize their gifts and talents. This mission is dear to Toni’s heart, because many years ago, she overcame homelessness herself. Toni is using the grant money to hire a computer technician to give the men in her program, “Each one Reach One” computer classes. “Through my long-standing relationship with the Woodson Center, I have received many grants from them over the years that have allowed me to provide services that have enriched the lives of so many people. The Center not only provides operational and funding support, but they also connected me to a funder, who recently donated computers to my program and he has committed to continue walking alongside with me to better help me serve my community.”