January 2025 Newsletter

Happy New Year! The beginning of the year is a time for reflecting on the past and planning for the year ahead. When I look back on what we’ve accomplished together in 2024, there is a lot to be proud of. 

Affirmations is the largest it has ever been. We serve 50,000 people annually, and our reach goes beyond metro Detroit. With programs such as telehealth therapy and the virtual youth leadership and job readiness program, we can serve folks anywhere in Michigan. 

We accomplished some lofty goals in 2024. We continued to focus on expanding our Health and Human Services department including adding several full-time and part-time therapists, expanding our therapy intern program, and offering new programming like group therapy and a series of queer finance workshops.

We continued to develop our youth programming by creating a youth advisory council, refining our drop-in program, and offering free art programming.

Our groups continued to grow as well. We added a queer billiards group, a fantasy book club, and a fiber arts group.

We expanded our leadership team with the hiring of Deputy Executive Director, Tracy Hall. Tracy is the former executive director at OutFront Kalamazoo and we are thrilled to have them at Affirmations.

Finally, we undertook strategic planning to create an ambitious three-year roadmap that will guide us in accomplishing even more! 

We are kicking off our strategic plan by focusing 2025 to be a year of program sustainability and targeted growth.

Our continued investment in our health and human services work includes expanding our individual and group therapy program, renovating the lower level of the building to accommodate more therapy suites, and continuing to expand the department to meet the needs of the community in the areas of resource navigation and basic needs. 

Our youth leadership and job readiness program is rebranding as our Lavender Leadership Academy and adding a young adult cohort for ages 18 – 24. We will continue our art programming with the Queer Utopia Creativity and Expression Lab. This opportunity is designed to empower youth ages 10 – 13 by building self-esteem, fostering connections, and using self-expression as a tool for coping and resilience. 

We are adding a new support and discussion group, BOLD (Black, Open, Loving, Defiant), a space created for Black LGBTQIA+ community members by Black LGBTQIA+ community members. 

Finally, we will continue to advocate for and support our community during these uncertain political times. In February we will host our second Community Drop-In space, which is a peer-to-peer support and discussion space to chat, process, and be in community.

Thank you to all of you who showed up to support Affirmations in 2024. We have seen an increase in volunteers, donors, and program participation. During difficult times, it’s reassuring to know that we continue to lift each other up.

With gratitude,

Cheryl Czach

Executive Director