by Willow Lagrou
This piece is part of the Detroit Journalism Summer Camp, run by The Detroit Writing Room in partnership with Planet Detroit.
In May 2025, a community service organization in Detroit nearly went under, until the same community it serves gave back.
Hey Y’all Detroit is a Detroit nonprofit dedicated to combating food insecurity and educating youth. In a time of dramatic federal cuts to social safety nets, Hey Y’all Detroit’s story is one of hope and a path to overcoming cuts for mutual aid organizations across the country.
Detroiter Charmane Neal founded the nonprofit in 2020 after the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Neal participated in protests, but wanted to do something more and different to benefit her community.
At the same time, Neal started noticing food insecurity, closing libraries and issues that weren’t properly addressed in her community.
“I really wanted to do something to help with the disenfranchisement and the disparities that a lot of our citizens are facing,” Neal says. “So I went home that night and prayed and asked God, ‘What can I do to really help my community?’ And next thing I know, Hey Y’all was on my mind.”
Hey Y’all Detroit’s main programs involve grocery delivery, community gardens, free farmers markets and stocking local pantries and Little Free Libraries. These programs support communities around Detroit.
“Those are things that I just really, really don’t want to let slip by, even if we don’t have the funding, because these are the things that I’ve seen that have had the greatest impact positively within the community,” Neal says.
More than a fridge
Jennine Spencer-Gilbert, a mother, grandmother, cosmetologist, community activist and resident on Field Street, has utilized some of these resources without even knowing it.
Though she didn’t know about Hey Y’all, she uses the Free Little Libraries and the food pantries often.
“I’ve gotten food from there,” she says. “I’ve taken food for other people, like seniors, and also my Venezuelan friend, Maria, who’s been here for the last three years.”
The outside fridge is stocked with an array of free food by a collaboration with the community organization Blackbottom, Hey Y’all Detroit and Field St. Block Club.
For Spencer-Gilbert, these resources are invaluable.
“What means a lot to me is to see my community be able to utilize that fridge and be able to eat, feed their families, the kids,” she says. “That fridge is always crowded. It’s always utilized and it’s a blessing to stop somewhere 24-7 and be able to pick up something that you need.”
Spencer-Gilbert grew up not wasting any food. The pantry allows for her and others to bring food that might otherwise go to waste, while feeding somebody else.
As for the books that Hey Y’all Detroit puts in the Little Free Libraries, Spencer-Gilbert says they “activate your creative mind.”
But just a few months ago, the nonprofit’s work she sees as so vital was suddenly in trouble.
The cuts
On May 6 of this year Hey Y’all Detroit posted an Instagram message on their handle @heyyalldetroit.
“On May 5, 2025 we were officially notified that Hey Y’all Detroit will no longer receive federal funding or government assistance,” it read. “…This devastating decision puts us on a path toward a full shutdown.”
Hey Y’all Detroit was approved to receive $25,000 in federal funding in increments, yet only received $6,000 of that during the winter before the funding cuts.
Neal describes feeling devastated by the situation.
“I was deeply affected by our funding getting cut. … I felt like I didn’t do what I needed to do,” she says.
It was heartbreaking to her as the founder, but it also shook the community.
“It was devastating. I felt bad for the community,” says Jasmine Onianwa, a Detroit resident, volunteer and avid supporter of Hey Y’all Detroit.
“It’s heartbreaking and so frustrating,” echoed donor and supporter Nicole Cassady.
While funding has been cut to community service organizations and social safety net programs nationwide, people have more need than ever for these programs.
“More people are leaning on mutual aid. More people are needing to go to food banks, to clothing closets, to thrift stores. The need for it has become so much more immense, and at the same time, the ability of people to do these things is getting cut,” Cassady says.
About 60% to 80% of nonprofits could fail to cover their expenses if funding continues to be cut for these programs, according to the research nonprofit Urban Institute. Places like Hey Y’all Detroit play crucial roles in their community, and without them, Detroit’s underserved populations could suffer more.
A story of hope
As Hey Y’all Detroit was in threat of going under, Neal posted a GoFundMe asking for only $1,500 to support the most vital of Hey Y’all’s programs.
In an overwhelming swarm of support, the community came through with four times that amount. As of early August, Hey Y’all Detroit raised over $6,500 to keep their main programs up and running.
“The community came back and showed so much love,” says Neal, who got teary-eyed just thinking about it.
“It was absolutely deserved,” Onianwa says. “I think it’s really nice to see. Charm supports the community with Hey Y’all, and it’s nice to see everybody supporting her back however they’re able to.”
The path forward
The devastating cuts may only continue, and communities need a way forward. Hey Y’all Detroit’s story of overcoming can be one of hope for communities across the U.S. whose nonprofits are facing devastating cuts.
While communities did not cause these funding cuts, their support, both financially and physically, is vital. Through difficult times, mutual aid and community can be the way forward.
“I’m not going to give up. I’m going to keep fighting. The best is yet to come,” Neal says.
Where to Find Hey Y’all Resources
Pantries stocked by Hey’Yall Detroit:
1953 Military St.
1812 Field St.
10061 Gratiot Ave.
15052 Grayfield St.
Little Free Libraries stocked by Hey Y’all Detroit:
Brush Street and Mack Avenue
Pembroke Avenue and Southfield Road
6 Mile and Woodward Avenue
Linwood Street and John C. Service Drive
French Road and Mack Avenue
Grand River Avenue and Southfield Road
Pembroke Avenue and St. Marys Street
Willow is a rising freshman at the University of Michigan where she will be majoring in Education. The past two years, Willow has worked with kids in an after-school program, something she thoroughly enjoyed and affirmed her choice to go into education. Beyond this, she loves to write, get outside, hangout with friends, and make art. At her previous school, Detroit School of the Arts she majored in both literary and visual arts. Willow chose to attend this journalism camp, because she is passionate about sharing underrepresented stories and voices and wanted to build her skill in such. At the University of Michigan, she plans to pursue her passion for journalism by writing for the school newspaper and possibly other student-run publications.