MSU Extension Wayne County

Message from the District Director

The 2023 programming year was a very productive year for Michigan State University Extension (MSUE). Our overall program reach saw an increase in participation from 2022. As an organization, we continued to strengthen our relationship with the United States Forest Service by providing office space at the Focus Hope Office in Detroit and collaborating on programs for community youth. We also worked closely with two Wayne County commissioners to provide Mental Health First Aid multi-day training to members and staff representing county government. These joint efforts reflect Extension’s commitment to developing and sustaining critical partnerships as well as our need to provide vital educational opportunities to our important Wayne County partners. MSU Extension reached more than 26,000 Wayne County residents with quality programming. Our social media and other indirect contacts allowed us to share Extension materials with another 90,000 plus participants across the state and beyond. We saw significant increases in our youth development programming as we trained new staff and built new local partnerships. The work to engage families in Wayne County and to provide requested information designed to help people improve their lives is a direct result of the investment of the Wayne County Executive, Warren C. Evans and the Wayne County Commission. We will continue to be good stewards of the resources they provide, and we continue to multiply their investment to make a difference through research-based education.

Richard Wooten, AICP; District 11 Director-Wayne County

MSU Extension Wayne County 2023 Programs

• 26,847 total Wayne County participants in all Programs
• 2,070 total 4-H participants
• 117 total 4-H volunteers
• 9,447 total youth in all programs (program year ending 2023)
• 262 total Master Gardener Volunteers 10,482 total Master Gardener volunteer hours
• 45,094 social media contacts 45,890 other indirect contacts
• 263 Extension partners 

MSU's impact on Wayne County

• $64.5 million in spending with local businesses
• 5,315 Michigan students enrolled in the University

US Forest Service Eastern Region Urban Connections Program

The US Forest Service Eastern Region Urban Connections program works with MSU Extension and other partners to provide outreach and education programs from the US Forest Service to Southeast Michigan residents. Programs include access to information and assistance from Forest Service Research and
Development, National Forest System, and State, Private and Tribal Forestry. In Wayne county this year we worked with partners to provide a variety of outreach and environmental education programs including the historic ranger program with The Henry Ford at Greenfield Village, school programs with the Detroit Zoological Society, sponsoring the Detroit Outdoors Collaborative with the International Wildlife Refuge Alliance, and supporting summer youth employment programs in natural resources careers at SER Metro, Green Door Initiative, Healthy Kidz, Inc. and the Greening of Detroit. These programs provided career building experiences to 290 youth during the summer of 2023. For the Collaborating with Friends of the Detroit River and the Detroit Outdoors Collaborative we provided opportunities for 576 youth to learn more about the watershed they live in and experience canoeing, many for the first time, with the Detroit River Water Festival and Canoemobile. Working with Friends of Rouge Park, we provided nature education experiences and created opportunities to steward this park, managing invasive species like buckthorn and honeysuckle.

Program Spotlight

The Star Student

Michigan State University Extension has a partnership with Stallworth Adult Foster Care (AFC) Home's Linwood site for more than a decade, providing direct education and Policy, Systems, and Environmental efforts. Stallworth AFC is a home that provides services to cognitive/physically impaired adults. Each fiscal year MSU Extension provides a six-week series for the participants using curricula such as "Eat Healthy Be Active" and "Healthy Choices for Everybody."

A participant in a Cognitively Impaired class held at Stallworth AFC was blinded during a horrendous accident and according to the Stallworth staff, was "plunged into a deep hole of depression and didn't seem to care about learning anything." But he was required to participate in the nutrition class where he thrived on what he was taught, especially after the MSU Extension Community Nutrition Instructor (CNI) adapted her teachings to facilitate the student. She created and converted class materials to facilitate his needs, and with his ability to draw from his excellent memory, he was able to enjoy participating in class. Stallworth AFC staff and other class participants have named him the "star student" because he answered many of the questions and thoroughly participated in class. Because of the CNI's efforts, the student expressed his hope that she would be back the following year, and was ecstatic when the response was "yes."

Health and Nutrition 

Increased fruit and vegetable consumption:

• 33 percent in youth participants
• 41 percent in adult participants

Improved physical activity:

• 32 percent in youth participants
• 38 percent in adult participants

Other health and nutrition impact data:

• 43 percent of youth reduced their screen time consumption
• 33 percent of youth drank less sugary beverages

Michigan Sea Grant

In 2023, Michigan Sea Grant Extension staff brought back the Conservation Stewards program to Wayne County for the first time in over ten years. This program teaches adult participants about local ecology, conservation and restoration, and was held at eight different venues throughout Wayne County including in Detroit, Dearborn, Plymouth, Trenton, and at Holliday Preserve and Nankin Lake in Westland. Conservation Stewards completed capstone projects during the course, including this group who tagged invasive species on Belle Isle for later removal.

Overall, Michigan Sea Grant programming reached 198 Wayne County residents, and an additional 429 people at events like the Shiver on the River Eco Fair. In-person programming included Detroit Public School students at the Detroit River Water Festival, invasive species educational events along the Ecorse Creek, and a presentation about how to recognize and prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species at the SOLAR Outdoors club meeting in Livonia.

Michigan Sea Grant also offers many free online programs including an annual Fishery Workshop that highlights the status of fish populations in the Detroit River and Lake Erie, Birding 101 events in the spring and fall, and a planning and zoning email course for local officials.

Mental Health First Aid

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) at MSU Extension has been a state-wide program since its inception. However, in 2023, Wayne County Extension took it upon themselves to participate and promote MHFA on a new level. This initiative began in June of 2023 when Commissioner Melissa Daub attended a community MHFA course through MSU Extension. After going through the course, Commissioner Daub saw the value of the course and wanted to make it accessible to her community members. By partnering with County Commission Chair Alisha Bell, local non-profits in her district, the Canton Community Foundation, and Northwest Wayne County Families Against Narcotics, she was able to sponsor course seats in MSU Extension's community MHFA courses. The MSU Extension MHFA team worked with Commissioner Daub and the representatives from her partnering organizations to verify participant eligibility for the program and to support the individuals participating in accessing the course. From July to October 2023, Commissioner Daub and her partners were able to provide $1,800 to have 40 community members certified in Mental Health First Aid. Some of the individuals who took part in this program shared that they were grateful for this opportunity because they had been hoping to take this course for some time and had not been able to until it was offered to them for free.

Additionally, the individuals who took MHFA as part of this program brought a diversity of occupations and experiences with them that were valuable for other course participants who tend to come from either corporate managerial occupational backgrounds or mental health-related occupational backgrounds. In addition to the efforts of Commissioner Daub in Wayne County District 10, the rest of Wayne County's commissioners and their staff also showed their support for the MHFA program by going through the MHFA course themselves, having 36 staff members trained between two in-person courses at the Detroit office. Among the participants were Commissioner Cara Clemente from District 4 and Tim Johnson, the Director of Administration of Wayne County. Mr. Johnson helped to organize these two courses and promoted them among the Wayne County Commission staff. Commissioner Clemente was an active participant during her MHFA course and even wore a shirt supporting neurodiversity on the first training day course and wanted to make it accessible to her community members. By partnering with County Commission Chair Alisha Bell, local non-profits in her district, the Canton Community Foundation, and Northwest Wayne County Families Against Narcotics, she was able to sponsor course seats in MSU Extension's community MHFA courses. The MSU Extension MHFA team worked with Commissioner Daub and the representatives from her partnering organizations to verify participant eligibility for the program and to support the individuals participating in accessing the course. From July to October 2023, Commissioner Daub and her partners were able to provide $1,800 to have 40 community members certified in Mental Health First Aid. Some of the individuals who took part in this program shared that they were grateful for this opportunity because they had been hoping to take this course for some time and had not been able to until it was offered to them for free.

MSU Extension's partnership with Wayne County brought 76 new Mental Health First Aiders to the county from various backgrounds and roles. With the support from the Wayne County Commission, this was a great success in de-stigmatizing the conversation around mental health and bringing individuals living with mental health challenges more hope for appropriate support and recovery.