Journal of
Corporate
Renewal
July/Aug
2017
volunteering, cooking, and University of
Michigan sports.
Q In that order?
Well, maybe in a different
order on football Saturdays.
Q Can you talk a little about your volunteer activities? You had
mentioned Circles Grand Rapids and
your involvement with that group. Can
you explain a little about what it is and
how it works?
I can’t take full credit for
getting involved in this. My wife
Angela has been an extremely strong
influence on our family in supporting
organizations that address poverty
and help to solve those problems.
We started out with Family Promise of
Grand Rapids, which provides family
housing for those who are unable to
find housing and otherwise would
need to go to a shelter. Usually if a
boy is over 12, he would have to go
to a men’s shelter. Family Promise
of Grand Rapids establishes a
weekly rotation of churches or other
organizations to house entire families
together and help provide services.
That involvement has since evolved
to us working with a group called
Circles Grand Rapids, which is
an organization that is helping
individuals overcome poverty
by giving them the skills and the
structure around them so that they
can ask questions to help them do
better, whether that involves helping
them prepare for interviews, learn
how to write resumes, understand
what lease documentation looks like,
buy a car, or know if they’re getting
in trouble with a cell phone plan. The
whole idea is that you can help this
person not by telling them what to
do but by providing a circle around
them so that if they have questions,
they feel comfortable about asking.
From what I understand, this
has been deemed one of the best
programs around for getting people
out of poverty. It’s only been in
Grand Rapids for about 1½ years,
so we’re just starting, but we have
seen some successes. Right now,
I believe our capacity is five to 10
families, so it’s not very big. But
you have to start somewhere.
Q What might people who only know you in your professional
capacity be most surprised to learn
about you?
I’m an amateur
woodworker, and I enjoy building
furniture. Most recently, with help from
my dad, we built my daughter’s
changing table and a matching side
table for the nursery.
Q Very nice. Is it a hobby that you picked up from your dad?
It was something I picked
up from the family, and it’s evolved
since then.
Q What’s your next big project?
I believe it’s going to be a
coffee table.
Q Is there anything that we haven’t alked about that you’d like to add?
As a workout officer for
Comerica, I want to help companies
turn around and succeed, but we’re
also active in the community. Even
though I am a workout officer, I’m still
vested in the community. J
2017 TMA YEAR-ROUND
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I’m an amateur woodworker, and I enjoy building
furniture. Most recently, with help from my
dad, we built my daughter’s changing table
and a matching side table for the nursery.
