Everyone needs a hand up sometimes.
In Detroit, that hand has a name and a number: 12,000 people giving $12 a month, standing behind neighbors like Winter and Antwan while they build the life they’re after.
12,000
neighbors joining together as monthly donors
$12
a month-the cost of one hand up, from one hero
$1.2M
this year’s goal for programs across the city
For more than 120 years, Matrix Human Services has been the family Detroit turns to-the place where a kid figures out what they’re capable of, where a parent finds child care that lets them get to work, where a senior isn’t spending the winter alone.
None of that happens because of one big check. It happens because thousands of people decide that $12 a month is worth it-worth it for a sophomore chasing a forensic science degree, worth it for a young man who left Skills 2 Build with a certification and a future in his hands.
A Hand Up Hero isn’t a donor. It’s a neighbor who showed up.
Two stories. Twelve thousand more to write.
Every Hand up Hero campaign is built on real people, not statistics. Here’s what your $12 helped make possible.
Winter Green
Jackson State University, Sophomore-Chemistry, Forensic Science Minor Future Homicide Detective
Winter grew up on Matrix’s Youth Advisory Board, the kind of program that hands a teenager a seat at the table instead of just a schedule of activities. Four years later, she’s a sophomore chasing a chemistry degree with her sighs set on forensic science-proof of what happens when a young person is trusted with real responsibility early.
Antwan Green
CMfgA Certification • Robotics • Blueprint Reading
Antwan came to Skills 2 Build looking for a way in. He left with a manufacturing certification, hands-on robotics training, and the ability to read a blueprint like a second language-the exact skills Detroit employers are hiring for right now. From skills to success isn’t a slogan for him; it’s a resume.
See it for yourself
Local news has been following the Hand Up Hero campaign. Watch the latest coverage below.
Be the 12,000th hand up.
