It’s Your Community

February 5, 2023 ~ Vanessa interviews Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel, who recently delivered his 10th annual State of the County address where he highlighted Community Partnerships, economic growth, and future projects. He discussed several key community metrics, including educational attainment, financial stability, infrastructure, roads, housing, country population, collaboration, and the county goals for 2023, as well as some of the challenges. The county executive also talked about the $100 million that the governor of Michigan put on the table for Selfridge National Airforce Base, which is in Macomb County.

January 29, 2023 ~ Founding Partner of Tanner Friedman, Don Tanner offers talks about his more than 35 years of counsel and experience in strategic communications for virtually all industry sectors, including automotive, professional services, technology, nonprofits, health care, and real estate. A former major market print and broadcast journalist, Tanner’s background includes on-air, programming, production, and public affairs through his work at Detroit radio stations WWJ-AM, WXYT-AM, and others. He also previously served as a writer/editor/research director for the national radio industry weekly trade publication, “Monday Morning Replay.” Tanner is the author of “No Static at All: A Behind the Scenes Journey Through Radio and Pop Music.”

January 22, 2023 ~ Vanessa Interviewed Laura Bonnell with the Bonnell Foundation. Imagine losing three of your four children to cystic fibrosis. It happened to a family in Egypt. Nada Mohamed is the only living child in her family. Her brother Omar died before his first birthday of CF, because the genetic disease was not being tested for, or even recognized in Egypt. Laura is working diligently to educate families in Egypt about CF. She is the mother of two adult daughters with CF.

January 15, 2022 ~ Vanessa interviewed Chris Jankulovski, Founder and CEO of Remote Staff, a recruiting company specializing in remote working placements. Remarkably, he was able to build and grow this thriving business while battling cancer, failing kidneys and several brain operations.Throughout these challenges and more, Chris was able to find a way to transform his life from one of fear, struggle and self-doubt, to one of empowerment, success, health and happiness. He authored the book Near Death Lessons. At 19 years old Chris was diagnosed with Von Hippel Lindau (VHL) Syndrome and for a time allowed this diagnosis to get the better of him. However, a series of near-death experiences triggered a profound positive personal transformation which eventually led Chris to live the life of his dreams.

The lessons from those transformations are shared and passed on to others so they can also use the worst adversities as a catalyst for profound change.

January 8, 2022 ~ Vanessa interviewed Michael Kelley, author of The Lost Theory and The Devil's Calling, fell in love with literature and creative writing while at the University of Pennsylvania. He put this passion to the side during a lengthy career on Wall Street, where he worked as a lawyer, built an international business, and founded his own investment management firm. After leaving the financial world, he engaged in studies of quantum physics, Eastern mysticism, and philosophy. From these studies, he developed a "Theory of Everything" which became the basis of his novels. After years of life in New York City, Michael now lives in the peaceful woods of Dutchess County with his wife and daughter. There, he enjoys meditation, yoga, wine, reading, and hiking, all of which inspire his writing.

December 25, 2022 ~ Vanessa interviewed Fr. Joseph Marquis about St. Nicholas, the real Santa Claus. Fr. Joseph Marquis is a Catholic priest (Byzantine Rite) serving as pastor of Sacred Heart Byzantine Catholic Church, Livonia, MI. For ten years, he served as Director of Pastoral Care at Detroit's Holy Cross Hospital, until its closure in the fall of 2003. Prior to that, Fr. Joseph was a resident chaplain for one year at Children's Hospital of Michigan (Detroit, MI), where he received a year of clinical pastoral formation within a pediatric setting. Accompanied by his puppet, "Terry the Dinosaur," Marquis drew upon his skills as a ventriloquist to entertain children being prepared for surgery. He was often called upon to arrange clinical visits from Santa Claus during the Christmas Season. www.StNicholasInstitute.org

December 18, 2022 ~ University of Detroit Mercy Adjunct Clinical Professor of Dentistry Dr. Timothy Kosinski talks with Vanessa about how dental practices are just now starting to return to “normal” operations after the COVID-19 pandemic.

December 4, 2022 ~ Vanessa interviewed Westland Mayor William R. Wild. Westland Mayor Bill Wild shared events in Westland and some news to share. After being the longest sitting Mayor in Westland, he is leaving the position for an executive as Chief Executive Officer of Midwest Independent Retailers Association (MIRA). Mayor Wild shared his experience in government and as a small business owner and his new role with MIRA. He talked about the successes he has had as Mayor and advice he has for others in public service. He also talked about the City’s Annual Shop and Dine campaign where they promote local businesses during the holiday season. www.miramw.org.

November 27, 2022 ~ Vanessa interviewed Dr. Teresa Holtrop who is a native of Michigan. She completed medical school at Michigan State University, and her pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital of MI in Detroit. She is Board certified in pediatrics. They talked about how United Way for Southeastern Michigan continues to connect families in our region to reliable information and helpful resources. These “What’s the Word Wednesday” town halls are part of a series addressing vital topics. Partnering with experts from government, education and nonprofits, these 30-minute interactive conversations address timely issues for everyone.Dr. Teresa Holtrop, pediatrician and co-founder of the Wayne Children’s Healthcare Access Program joined United Way to talk about LENA Start, a school readiness program in Metro Detroit. LENA Start is an evidence-based community program designed to engage families and help them learn how to increase conversation with their children during the first few years of life. This program is used in several organizations providing early childhood education, including Wayne Metro CAA, Black Family Development and Brilliant Detroit. After completing a 4 year National Health Service Corp commitment at a Federally Qualified Health Center in Detroit she worked for 24 years as faculty at the Children’s Hospital of MI General Pediatric Clinic, founding and running the CATCH Pediatric Mobile Team for 16 of those years. As a member of the MI Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, she has trained numerous practices in how to effectively screen children for developmental delays, autism, and mental health issues. She is currently the executive and medical director of Kids’ Health Connections, a non-profit organization that seeks to help medical practices serving Medicaid-enrolled children to improve the quality of the care they provide. Understanding the link between improved early literacy and positive health outcomes, she has dedicated considerable effort toward identifying and implementing effective interventions that promote emerging literacy as primary prevention. www.miramw.org

November 20, 2022 ~ Kevin L. Schewe, MD, FACRO, is a board-certified cancer specialist who has been in the private practice of radiation oncology for over 34 years. He is an entrepreneur, having founded Elite Therapeutics and Bad Love Cosmetics Company, LLC. A long-time history buff, Schewe is the author of the Bad Love Book Series, a young adult sci-fi adventure for ages 10-100 that spans much of early 20th century history. Bad Love Tigers has won 200 awards for best screenplay and best script from film festivals around the world. You can connect with Kevin Schewe through his website KevinSchewe.com or via Instagram @realkevinschewe