GRIT

How Mario Nanos, President of Washtenaw County FAN, is helping local families find solace, support and resources.

Grit host, Margaret Trimer, sits down with colleague, Mark Baughman—Senior Vice President and CIO at Delta Dental, and Crain's Detroit's 2021 CIO of the Year Award recipient. For Baughman, success is far beyond IT strategy, it's engagement and diversity and inclusion within and in our communities.

Saunteel Jenkins is determined to keep the lights on for Detroiters. Even after her recent battle with stage 3 breast cancer, the CEO of THAW isn’t slowing down. Hear her inspiring story.

Detroit hygienist fulfills 'dental ice cream truck’ dream—Deanna Alexander has dedicated her life to providing door-to-door oral hygiene care to underserved communities. Now Alexander is taking her business to the next level—she is one of two minority recipients who will be outfitted with a one-person custom van converted into a mobile dental office. Hear her journey.

Recently, the Detroit Riverfront was voted the number one riverwalk in America, and it serves as a space for people to reflect, meditate and cope with life's challenges. For many Detroiters, this last year has been especially trying—Frierson is encouraging residents to head to the Detroit Riverfront to find joy and healing.

Ron Stefanski, executive director for strategic partnerships at Centric Learning, has changed the lives of thousands of at-risk kids. But it was his personal mentorship of one Detroit teen that gave him perspective on a 30-year-old tragedy in his own life. Hear his story.

Vaughn Arrington is known as a Pied Piper of Detroit's east side: he is an entrepreneur, a social worker, a community organizer and he's found passion in getting underserved children the care they need, including oral health care. He's also a returned citizen with an inspirational rebound strategy—while in solitary confinement he had a conversation with himself about a life plan that would help him thrive once he was set free. Hear his story.

The pandemic and lingering effects of COVID-19 caused education to be disruptive. Difficult. Divisive. For Cindy Hill, an academic interventionist at Detroit's Ronald Brown Academy—a school that Delta Dental has supported in many ways—it was a year to truly make a difference. And that's just what she did. She was prepared for the challenging year, not because of what she knows but because who she is.

Three years of horror and unimaginable loss led Vesna Cizmic and her family to flee Bosnia as refugees in 1995. They didn’t know anybody in the United States when they landed in Detroit. Fortunately, they found Delta Dental’s partner organization, Samaritas—a statewide human services nonprofit that helps legal refugees resettle here and build a life. Vesna talks about living in a war zone, leaving careers and family she loved, starting over, and finding opportunity in metro Detroit. Her story is a reminder that America still offers hope and opportunity.

Ben P. is a Michigan native who grew up with a supportive, loving upper-middle class family. Despite a consistent family structure, Ben struggled with anxiety and depression from an early age. In order to cope, he started to abuse substances, which led to opioid use including heroin.

Ben recently detailed his journey to get sober—which included time in prison—as a guest of Grit. Delta Dental invests heavily in the prevention of substance abuse and, particularity, opioid abuse. Listen to Ben's story here.