Beyond their legislative and administrative duties, mayors possess the ability to bring together a community’s most influential stakeholders—from corporate executives to non profits to religious leaders. This ability is especially important in times of crisis. Last fall, during the longest federal government shutdown in US history, Mayor Theresa Rich put out a call to community leaders in Farmington Hills, MI to support families affected by the shutdown. Read below to hear from Mayor Rich on how she spearheaded the Feed the Need FH Task Force and is using it to mobilize organizations, residents, and resources toward a common mission.
Can you please describe what the Feeding Farmington Hills Task Force is and how it operates?
The Feed the Need FH Task Force is a convening of people from many disciplines who live in, work in, or care about Farmington Hills. A mayor has one superpower: the ability to convene. Last fall, the Federal Government’s shutdown resulted in elimination of SNAP benefits and dry paydays for federal employees. As Mayor, I was compelled to do something. I pulled together as many caring people as I could: the faith community; electeds and educators at the local, county, state, and Federal levels; NGOs, interested residents, and my fellow council members. On a Friday, I invited over 100 people to come together the following Monday afternoon to discuss how we could fill resource gaps created by the shutdown.
That first meeting was magical. Over 50 people, many of whom had never met, crammed into the room. We took an hour for participants to introduce themselves, share initiatives and resources people should know about, and discuss what assistance is needed. It was the ultimate loaves and fishes moment.
From the first meeting, we left with awareness and a request that we come together again in a month. Thus began a protocol. We meet the second Monday of the month at one of our larger houses of worship. We typically invite a speaker to share info that was sought at a prior meeting. Currently, I am handling all of the administrative work.
As Mayor, what have been the main barriers to getting the task force started and how have you overcome those barriers?
Politics!!! Because it was a few weeks before a mayoral election, there was early pushback from Council with the accusation that the Taskforce was an election ploy. Originally, I wanted to host the Taskforce at City Hall, but I had to scramble over the weekend to ask one of our houses of worship if they would sponsor the first meeting. There is also some turf protection happening at the NGOs.
I don’t argue with the naysayers. I invite them to participate. At council meetings, I will report on what is happening. I think some of the NGOs are finally beginning to believe that this is not something negative and actually helps them gain more resources and users.
What key successes or breakthroughs would you like to share?
Momentum breeds momentum. It’s a funny thing when the mayor calls…people come because they want to be part of the cool kids. Since the first meeting, we’ve done wonders! We prepared food boxes for over 60 families to ensure school aged children got breakfast and lunch over the December holiday break (including 16 unhoused families living at local hotels), provided Thanksgiving turkeys, provided laundry vouchers to families because we learned children were going to school with dirty clothes, completed a hot Saturday lunch delivery pilot from one of our Hindu temples, and are working with the public transportation folks to make rides more user friendly for families with kids. We are now working on a monthly rotating meal meet up at houses of worship, a Grow a Row for Your Neighbor gardening initiative, and are consolidating resources for free summer child care via summer camps hosted by our houses of worship.
Breakthroughs include seed money. I had/have no intention of starting another charity and ended up having to use an unused account at one of our houses of worship to house the money because I do not want to be the politician who handles cash meant for charity.
I’ve learned that people want to give. I used the platform of my ceremonial swearing in to get a mountain of nonperishables and thousands in donations toward the December food box delivery. I’ve also learned that people want to show up. We had so many volunteers for the food delivery that I struggled to find things for them to do.
What learning lessons would you offer to other mayors on convening community leaders and organizations to respond to the needs of residents?
- Be clear on your purpose. For me, that is how to best support families with school-aged children.
- Invite broadly. People want to say yes to the mayor. There will be those who get involved out of FOMO (fear of missing out). Use that for good.
- Roll with whatever comes out of it and encourage people who want to grab an initiative and go.
- Use the word “pilot” liberally. That puts less pressure on a one-time outcome and gives more ability to look for lessons learned and, even better yet, ideas for the next thing. Celebrate what went well and learn from what could be done better.
- Ignore the noise. I’m fond of President Theodore Roosevelt’s quote about the man in the arena. There will always be people eager to throw trash on the field and heckle. Invite them to participate and, if they don’t, ignore them and move forward with the assurance that you are doing good.