Community activists, residents and political leaders gathered at Macomb Community College South Campus in Warren Saturday morning to discuss how they can help each other and how voters can be better engaged — particularly in municipal and school board elections.
The Moving Macomb Forward event was hosted by Red Wine and Blue, Michigan League of Conservation Voters, For Our Future Michigan and Sierra Club Michigan Chapter.
“We are an unlikely alliance because women’s groups don’t traditionally work closely with environmental groups, so we are just trying something new,” said Kelly Dillaha, Michigan Red, Wine and Blue program director. “We wanted to bring the different groups together to see if there was any kind of crossover in the work that we are doing and if we could help each other.”
People from around Macomb County attended the brainstorming session and networking event and discussed issues facing local residents including the lack of affordable housing, high energy costs, flooding, gun violence, education, access to mental health services, and updating water infrastructure.
“People are coming to us because they see things that are happening at the school board level, or a lot of moms are concerned about gun violence issues,” said Dillaha. “It is those kinds of issues that are motivating people to feel like they need to show up and get involved and to vote.”
Read more at macombdaily.com