20 Stories of Impact

As a partner with the Alliance, the Greater West Bloomfield Community Coalition (GWBCC) has access to free programs and the tools to implement them - including marketing and course materials, and staff. This level of support, explains GWBCC Executive Director Lisa Berkey, allows the coalition to utilize funding from its community partners to create additional programs. 

One example unique to GWBCC is the offering of weekly yoga/mindfulness sessions to every elementary student in the West Bloomfield school district. Yoga complements an array of youth programs already in place that are provided by the Alliance, including education on vaping, marijuana, and prescription drug safety. 

 “Our focus is to help youth grow to their greatest potential, and I am extremely grateful for the collaboration we have with the Alliance,” she says. “They create many programs and implement them for us, freeing up resources. This has allowed us to not only expand our youth services with our own programs such as yoga, but to also provide education to the entire community. With the Alliance, we were able to place Save A Life boxes and provide Narcan training. The Alliance is always helping us so we can help our community.”