State of Opportunity from Michigan Radio

It’s been decades since Mr. Rogers invited us to be his neighbor. All were welcomed – rich, poor, black, white, immigrant. But today the reality is neighborhoods are much more segregated and homogenous. There are, of course, exceptions. As part of our year-long look at neighborhoods and their impacts, we'll be spending time in a diverse neighborhood on the border of Hamtramck and Detroit that's actively working to integrate.

Angels Above Baby Gowns takes all those dresses you only wear once and put away, like wedding and bridesmaid gowns, or prom dresses – and turn them...

Angels Above Baby Gowns takes all those dresses you only wear once and put away, like wedding and bridesmaid gowns, or prom dresses – and turn them into burial gowns for babies. They call them "angel gowns." Then, they give them to parents and hospitals, for free. Dawn Lafferty started Angels Above two years ago after reading a news story about a mom in the state of Washington whose son died at birth. The mom went home and made a gown to bury him in out of her old wedding dress. Lafferty, who

She first went into the system when she was five years old, she says. She bounced around, like any of the thousands of kids in Michigan who go through foster care. So she waited, like everyone else waits. Many of them wait so long, they turn 18 in foster care, and they’re never adopted. They “age out.”But her story took a different turn. It was this winter. January. Abbi was 15 years old. We’re just using her first name.She was living in a group home, thinking of another year, another birthday

She first went into the system when she was five years old, she says. She bounced around, like any of the thousands of kids in Michigan who go through...

Michelle Gach’s son was taken from her home nearly two years ago, when he was three year old. Police took him after he was found alone in a park across the street from the family’s home. A judge later terminated Gach’s parental rights. These terminations happen all the time in Michigan. They create a permanent, legal separation between parents and their children. And, once the decision to terminate is made, it’s rarely reversed in Michigan. But that’s what happened last week in Michelle Gach’s

Michelle Gach’s son was taken from her home nearly two years ago, when he was three year old. Police took him after he was found alone in a park across...

If you ask Cherish Blackmon about her gender, you won’t get a simple answer. “Well, on the inside, I definitely identify my masculinity, but I also...

If you ask Cherish Blackmon about her gender, you won’t get a simple answer. “Well, on the inside, I definitely identify my masculinity, but I also acknowledge my feminine on the outside because I know that God has given me the privilege to experience the opposite body of what I originally am in this lifetime," she said. "I feel like I’m both, but it feels like one.” As for her sexual orientation, Blackmon says early on she knew she was attracted to women.

In Lansing every year, there is a day set aside as Child Abuse Prevention Awareness Day. That day was yesterday. So, on the steps of the Capitol, people...

In Lansing every year, there is a day set aside as Child Abuse Prevention Awareness Day. That day was yesterday. So, on the steps of the Capitol, people got up to speak, children from an elementary group sang and dozens of people involved in organizations that work to keep kids safe stood in the rain to show their support. People like Luanne Beaudry, who is with Parenting Awareness Michigan. The group helps train educators across the state who run parenting classes. In those classes parents

The tiny white ball arcs against the cold gray sky, almost too hard to see. "That's a good ball," says Devon Kitchen, eyes focused as the ball drops...

The tiny white ball arcs against the cold gray sky, almost too hard to see. "That's a good ball," says Devon Kitchen, eyes focused as the ball drops quietly on the still-soggy fairway at Lincoln Golf Club on the northern edge of Muskegon. It’s one of those days when spring backtracks, feels more like winter. Not a great day for golfing. But it doesn’t seem to bother Kitchen. The 17-year-old is just happy to be on the course again. He's dressed in a bright orange cap, dark gray pullover and black

"Used to be a church right here," Jamiel Robinson says, nodding toward a storefront on South Division in Grand Rapids. "Yeah?" I say, eyeing the...

"Used to be a church right here," Jamiel Robinson says, nodding toward a storefront on South Division in Grand Rapids. "Yeah?" I say, eyeing the business. "Now they do tattoos. Ain’t the same at all." "It’s not the same." We're standing at the corner of Division and McConnell. Next to us is a gray, boarded up building Robinson’s grandfather once owned. It had a barbershop, a candy store, a pool hall and apartments upstairs. But it was old and needed repairs. In 2005, Robinson’s family sold it.