Welcome to Voice’s in the Community, I’m Lloyd Jackson and today we speak with Jasmine Mahone a single mother of four, who is a leader at Brilliant Detroit’s Osborn Neighborhood House. She helps implement youth literacy and other programs for kids and their families out of the house turned community center on Detroit’s east side. We’ll hear more about the work she does and how she helps other mothers work through shared challenges and build community.
I kicked it off like always with my :60 lightning round of questions so we can find out more about Jasmine.. by asking her about her first car which she says was a 2004 Buick Regal…Next I aske if she was a lover of dogs or cats and she says dogs. Next I asked her if she had any hidden talents and she said she’s really has a goal of being an entrepreneur and believes she’s a good one and when it comes to a favorite Detroit food…. It’s soul food all the way.
I asked Jasmine how she got involved with Brilliant Detroit’s Osborn house and she said she found it while getting her G.E.D and volunteering and different places and found it very soothing.
Jasmine says with everything she’s been through in her life volunteering is what made her who she is today. Many of the skills she has today she learned through volunteering.
Being a volunteer in the Osborn community Jasmine sees a lot of the issues and problems that need to be addressed and Osborn being a community and connecting people in the neighborhood with each other can bring the community close to deal with issues and problems.
Jasmine says she’s a people person and by connecting neighbors with other neighbors you’ll be surprised with what a neighbor could do to help out your family.
Being a people person, Jasmine says she continues to learn from men and women, boys and girls, young and old. She says you should be able to approach a neighbor whether they are doing well or have some social or financial problems.
Jasmine says part of her volunteering includes listening to children and teenagers and she says many adults don’t listen and are bully’s without even knowing they are. It’s a do as I say only attitude. But Jasmine says when you listen to a child you give them encouragement to speak up if something is wrong.
Jasmine not only works with children at Brilliant Detroit’s Osborn house but she also works with the parents of the children by holding peer to peer group that gets together and discusses their highs and lows and the peer group works together to help solve any issues.
Jasmine wants to support those in the community with dreams of entrepreneurship and home ownership and she wants other to show that support to give people that seek the same thing the energy to start that business or that process to get their own home.
At 28 years old, Jasmine has lived in Detroit all her life and could have lived where ever she wanted to but chose to stay in Detroit because she says the city is “Amazing” and the people are hardworking and creative.
Jasmine says what she would like to see next for Detroit is the city helping more of the city’s poor and making more of these abandoned homes available for those who can fix them up and make the neighborhood more livable. She would also like the city provide more help and guidance to single fathers who are having just as much a tough time as single mothers.
Jasmine says the place she would take a person who is a first-time visitor to Detroit be her neighborhood in the Osborn area in Northeast Detroit. She says people are quick to take visitors to the downtown area but it’s really the neighborhoods that need to be served and they are the roots of the city.
In the aftermath of the protests in Detroit and around the country after the George Floyd murder Jasmine feels we could have more unity in the city if the powers that be would just sit down with the community and really hear what their issues are… not just listen but hear them.
Jasmine is going to be one of 7 women that will be honored for their community work during the “Power of One Dedicated Women” virtual awards on September 22 sponsored by the organization Michigan Community Resources.
You can find out more about Michigan Community Resources and Jasmine by going to the Michigan Community Resources Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/MichCommResources/
Thanks for listening and looking in on Voices of The Community!