DETROIT – As the city of Detroit experienced a troubling rise in youth violence during the summer of 2025, a local nonprofit is responding with a simple but powerful idea: bring people together over a meal to talk, listen, and act.
The Center for Youth and Families launched a community dinner series in September to create space for residents, youth, parents, and local stakeholders to discuss pressing challenges.
They are tackling issues including youth violence and housing instability, to food insecurity and economic hardship.
“We lost one of our own kids that we service this summer. And that’s always hard,” said Jeri Fisher of the Center for Youth and Families.
The string of shootings that kept police busy across the city, with children and teens sometimes involved as victims or suspects, prompted organizers to take action.
“We’ve been trying to get some preventative services to where the kids are and where their parents are,” said Elizabeth Richardsoon of the Center for Youth and Families. “We are here as a beacon of light in the community to help them through some of the challenges that they are experiencing.”
Modeled on the idea of the family dinner, the gatherings encourage participants to put phones and business aside and have focused, solution-based conversations. In addition to parents and youth, police officers, pastors, business owners, and other community leaders are joining neighbors at the tables.
“Let’s put everything else aside. Let’s put business aside. Let’s put our cell phones down and have real conversation with each other and share what we are experiencing and how we can support each other and how we can keep our kids safe,” Richardsoon said.
Dinners have taken place in neighborhoods including central Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park.
Organizers say the events are designed to reach the core causes of the community’s problems by combining honest conversation with practical resources and connections.
“For us, we want to get at the root of the problems. And this is addressing the root of the problems,” Fisher said.
The conversations can get tough, organizers acknowledge — but that is part of the work. By creating a calm, communal setting, the Center aims to foster stronger, safer neighborhoods and provide access to essential services that families need.