Opportunities From: United Way for Southeastern Michigan

Juneteenth marks one of our country’s independence day celebrations. Although it has long been celebrated in the African American community, this monumental event remains largely unknown to most Americans. The historical legacy of Juneteenth reminds us of the importance of holding onto hope during uncertain times. It is a celebration of community, where families can gather to learn, reflect, and share stories that honor diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Volunteers at our Fitzgerald event will provide a warm and welcoming atmosphere for community participants, help set-up program stations, and manage activities.

Brilliant invites skilled professionals to share their unique talents in support of our vision to create thriving Detroit neighborhoods. There are many meaningful ways to get involved across our community!

We welcome skilled volunteers from a variety of backgrounds. Opportunities may include:

If you have a special skill or talent you’d like to volunteer, we’d love to connect and explore how we can make brilliant things happen together at one of our Brilliant hubs!

Brilliant Cities is a neighborhood-powered model ensuring children 0-8 are school-ready, healthy, and supported. We do this by transforming houses into family-focused, community hubs and partner with organizations to coordinate research-based programs for children and families. These programs focus on education, health, and family support, giving young children and families what they need for a bright future.

Our hubs offer after-school programming for K-3rd grade students, focused on strengthening literacy skills and maintaining their learning momentum throughout the school year. We welcome volunteers who enjoy working with kids to help facilitate activities such as homework support, games, arts and crafts, and group learning.

In this role, volunteers will serve as engaged and supportive mentors who encourage, inspire, and actively connect with our Brilliant students as they learn, explore, and ask questions. Our Littlefield hub is currently seeking volunteers who can commit to 1-4 days per week, Monday through Thursday from 3-6 p.m., to support literacy programming.

Each year, the Brilliant Detroit team, along with participants and volunteers, gathers at our 18 operating neighborhood hubs to enhance our landscaping and cultivate flower and harvest gardens. These efforts reflect a season of renewal and growth, helping to beautify shared spaces while fostering community pride and environmental stewardship. It’s also an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to creating thriving neighborhoods where kids and families can succeed.

Tasks will vary depending on the site and time of the season; however, volunteers can expect to assist with weeding, planting flowers, collecting sticks and leaves, trimming overgrowth, mulching, and preparing garden beds. Materials will be provided, though we always appreciate volunteers who are interested in donating tools or bringing their own gloves.

If your group is interested in organizing a beautification project or hosting a collection drive, we would love the opportunity to partner with you in supporting and beautifying our Brilliant community! Please respond using this opportunity link, and a member of our Volunteer Team will reach out shortly to begin planning your project or coordinating your donation.

Join us for our annual block party as we celebrate community, strengthen neighbor-to-neighbor connections, and foster a spirit of mutual support!

Block parties and resource fairs play an important role in building safer, more connected, and more resilient neighborhoods by reducing social isolation, encouraging civic engagement, and creating opportunities for neighbors to support one another. Volunteers will assist with event setup, attendee check-in, vendor support, resource distribution and cleanup throughout the day while helping to create a welcoming and engaging experience for all Brilliant participants. Volunteer shifts are available; please inquire. 

Our Brilliant moms and dads are at the cornerstone of everything we do and our commitment to serving families. Join us for two memorable events at our Central hub, as we create a warm and welcoming brunch and a fun and joyful BBQ to celebrate the incredible mother and father figures in our Brilliant Central community. These special gatherings are designed to bring families together through meaningful connection, shared conversation, delicious food, and engaging activities.

We'd love to see you on one or both dates! 

Volunteers will play a key role in bringing these celebrations to life by decorating and assisting with setup, warmly greeting families, and supporting activities that foster connection, relaxation, and celebration.

Interested in earning your ServSafe Certification at no cost? Michigan Works is offering a free, one-day training and certification exam this April through June for individuals looking to strengthen their food safety skills.

Available dates: April 27th, May 11th, May 18th (Spanish), June 8th, and June 22nd

Brilliant Detroit is excited to share this opportunity with our Brilliant volunteer community! We welcome ServSafe-certified individuals to support a variety of meaningful roles, including:

Join us in building healthier communities through food, learning, and connection!

For more information and to register for this limited opportunity, please visit the link here or scan the QR code in the flyer attached below.

Join us in creating vibrant green spaces where learning and growing go hand in hand!

Brilliant Detroit hosts an annual summer camp across our neighborhood sites, offering outdoor educational programming that covers a wide range of topics—including literacy, science, nature exploration, and hands-on gardening. Each site features an education garden with several raised beds growing tomatoes, leafy greens, peppers, and more! We’re currently seeking volunteers of all experience levels who are interested in gardening to help us prepare our gardens for the upcoming summer camp season. 

Volunteer tasks may include:

This is a wonderful opportunity to:

Whether you’re an individual, a group of friends, or a family, you’re welcome to join! We’re especially looking for recurring volunteers who can commit to visiting their site once or twice a week; volunteers are not responsible for a daily watering schedule. 

By submitting your interest through this form, we will contact you via email to guide you through the volunteer onboarding process. Please be sure to specify which site you are interested in volunteering at when completing the form:

We’re currently looking for volunteers who enjoy connecting with others and want to help strengthen neighbor-to-neighbor relationships across our Brilliant Detroit community! This role centers on friendly, informal conversations, sharing what Brilliant offers, and helping neighbors learn about our free programs and resources.

As a volunteer, you’ll support our Community Engagement team by distributing items like free books and literacy program calendars, and sharing information about accessing essentials such as food, diapers, clothing, and more. By connecting with residents, you’ll help keep our community informed, supported, and connected while expanding our reach and impact.

Our Brightmoor, Central, and Russell Woods hubs are currently seeking volunteers to help assist with weekly outreach efforts. This opportunity offers flexible scheduling; please inquire. Volunteer groups are welcome!

Brilliant Detroit's McDougall-Hunt location is partnering with Bailey Park NDC for a community resource event focused on empowering individuals with the knowledge, tools, and support needed to take charge of their physical, mental, and emotional well-being. 'Know Your Health Day' aims to raise health awareness, promote early detection and prevention, and foster a culture of wellness, equipping participants to live healthier and more informed lives.

Volunteers will assist with event set-up, attendee and vendor registration, monitoring kids’ activity and mural stations, supporting the food tent, and helping with event breakdown. This event will be taking place from 1-5 p.m. at Bailey Park NDC. Volunteers interested in helping set-up should arrive at 11 a.m.

Brilliant Cities is a neighborhood-powered model ensuring children 0-8 are school-ready, healthy, and supported. We do this by transforming houses into family-focused, community hubs and partner with organizations to coordinate research-based programs for children and families. These programs focus on education, health, and family support, giving young children and families what they need for a bright future.

To date, Brilliant Cities has reached more than 24,000 children and caregivers, raising reading levels by an average of three grade levels per child. Since 2016, the model has expanded to 24 neighborhoods in Detroit, launched a hub in Pontiac, and is currently expanding to Philadelphia.

We’re inviting volunteers to join us in turning our mission into action. Whether reading one-on-one or with a group, painting a room, organizing our book library, or sorting in-kind donations, our hubs have meaningful volunteer opportunities that arise throughout the year, and we would love to welcome you!

Current volunteer opportunities

Brilliant Clothing Closet Organization 

Each Brilliant hub offers free clothing to families in need, helping build confidence and a sense of belonging by ensuring they have appropriate attire, which can be especially important for school success and positive social interactions. Clothing Closet volunteers impact our communities by helping to create an organized and welcoming space that supports smoother operations and makes clothing easily accessible for Brilliant participants. With support from hub staff, volunteers will review donated items for quality, condition, and seasonal fit, categorize them by type and size, and help create a department store style shopping experience for our community. This role involves standing, bending, reaching and moving around for most of the shift. Multiple locations and flexible scheduling available, please inquire.

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Brilliant Osborn Organization & Redesign 

Flexible scheduling; please inquire 

Our Osborn hub is preparing for a spring cleaning day to organize the free community clothing closet in the basement and sort and rearrange items stored in the garage. This effort will help ensure the hub’s spaces are accessible for regular programming, that our Brilliant families can easily navigate the clothing closet, and that everything is ready for our upcoming summer day camp. We're currently looking for a group of about 6-10 volunteers to join us, with half working in the garage and half in the basement. This project will involve moderate to heavy lifting.

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Brilliant Dexter-Linwood Basement Organization Project

Help create a welcoming and efficient space for our Brilliant participants! We're looking for volunteers to assist with organizing the basement of our Dexter-Linwood hub which is home to our free community clothing closet. Volunteers will assist with assembling shelving units, sorting totes, and organizing clothing by size. Your efforts will help us maintain a welcoming, clutter-free environment, making it easier for community members to access the resources they need. Flexible scheduling available; please inquire. (Volunteer groups welcome!)

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Brilliant Cody Rouge Hub Organization

We’re seeking volunteers to help organize our storage and programming areas. Tasks include assembling shelving units, and storing totes—some heavy lifting required. Your volunteer efforts will support smoother operations and ensure resources are accessible in a clutter-free environment. Flexible scheduling available; please inquire.

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Brilliant Brightmoor Organization & Redesign 

Our Brightmoor location is currently looking for volunteers to help organize basement rooms, assemble shelving units, and properly store totes to declutter and sort items. Volunteers will assist in creating storage solutions and ensuring our programming areas remain clean and functional. Tasks may include lifting and moving boxes, sorting supplies, and organizing materials. Volunteers are needed weekdays between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. (Volunteer groups welcome!)

Brilliant Cities is a neighborhood-powered model ensuring children 0-8 are school-ready, healthy, and supported. We do this by transforming houses into family-focused, community hubs and partner with organizations to coordinate research-based programs for children and families. These programs focus on education, health, and family support, giving young children and families what they need for a bright future.

Our Brilliant hubs are offering the Scholastic R.E.A.L. (Read, Excel, Achieve, Lead) Program, an 8-week, literacy-focused mentoring initiative that uses high-quality, diverse books and companion guides to support children’s academic success through interactive read-alouds and book discussions.

As a R.E.A.L. mentor, you will promote:

…all of which lead to literacy success!

R.E.A.L. mentors will receive all Scholastic training materials, including Mentor Success Guides that correspond with each read-aloud book, as well as an orientation with our literacy programming lead. As the program progresses, students will receive take-home activities, family guides, and celebration materials to further enhance their engagement with the readings.

While a love for literacy is a must, no prior teaching experience is required. If you’re interested in facilitating read-aloud sessions and working with our Brilliant kids, we would love for you to join us in our upcoming R.E.A.L. program!

Program Requirements:

*Once you submit an interest form via Galaxy, a member of our Volunteer Team will reach out to you via email to go over the next steps in our onboarding and placement process.

Brilliant Cities is a neighborhood-powered model ensuring children 0-8 are school-ready, healthy, and supported. We do this by transforming houses into family-focused, community hubs and partner with organizations to coordinate research-based programs for children and families. These programs focus on education, health, and family support, giving young children and families what they need for a bright future.

Our O’Hair Park hub is looking for a volunteer to support their weekly 'Distribution Day' where Brilliant families can access essential items such as fresh produce, clothing, books, and diapers. These events are designed to help parents meet their children’s needs with dignity, care, and ease. Volunteers play a key role in making Distribution Days successful by helping create a welcoming and well-organized environment so that our families can focus on selecting the items that are most meaningful to them.

Distribution Days will take place each Thursday, from 4-6 p.m.

Brilliant Cities is a neighborhood-powered model ensuring children 0-8 are school-ready, healthy, and supported. We do this by transforming houses into family-focused, community hubs and partner with organizations to coordinate research-based programs for children and families. These programs focus on education, health, and family support, giving young children and families what they need for a bright future.

We’re looking for volunteers who are passionate about working with children, supporting literacy in Detroit, and leading engaging reading cohorts at our hubs.

As a volunteer leader, you will work in-person at one of our sites to lead an hour-long program once a week from October to May. 

Volunteers will be partnered with a child and be tasked to read aloud books and lead activities based on those books with that child. This opportunity is best suited for those with early childhood education experience and/or interest, however, anyone can lead these programs. These programs work best when the facilitator is upbeat, energetic, compassionate, and engaging.

These programs are offered in person at hubs based on the volunteer's availability. Volunteers will be placed based on the needs of our hubs and the volunteer's proximity to one of our Brilliant pods.

A Brilliant Detroit orientation and background check are required to serve in these programs. Specialized training for this opportunity will also be given after the background check is completed. For more information, please contact volunteer@brilliantdetroit.org.

Brilliant Cities is a neighborhood-powered model ensuring children 0-8 are school-ready, healthy, and supported. We do this by transforming houses into family-focused, community hubs and partner with organizations to coordinate research-based programs for children and families. These programs focus on education, health, and family support, giving young children and families what they need for a bright future.

As a Brilliant Health Corps Volunteer, you will share your knowledge in Health, Wellness, and/or Nutrition by supporting or leading specialized health programs. Volunteers play an essential role in creating engaging and impactful health, wellness, and nutrition nights for families.

Volunteer Health Corps Roles and Responsibilities: 

Volunteer Facilitators (Skills-based)

Volunteer Facilitators support or lead specialized health programs by sharing their expertise in Health, Wellness, and/or Nutrition.

Volunteer Presenters (Skills-based or experience-based) 

Volunteer Presenters lead or co-lead educational workshops during health nights.

General Support Volunteers (Support roles) 

General Support Volunteers assist with organizing and running health nights as part of a team. 

To learn more and join Brilliant Cities as a Health Corps Volunteer, please complete the interest form through Galaxy. A member of our Volunteer Team will contact you directly.

Brilliant Cities is a neighborhood-powered model ensuring children 0-8 are school-ready, healthy, and supported. We do this by transforming houses into family-focused, community hubs and partner with organizations to coordinate research-based programs for children and families. These programs focus on education, health, and family support, giving young children and families what they need for a bright future.

Brilliant Cities takes great pride in honoring National Days of Service that closely aligns with our mission and core values to educate and unite individuals, families, service clubs, businesses, schools, and faith-based organizations in volunteerism throughout the year. 

We actively coordinate service projects around the following Days of Service: 

To collaborate on an upcoming service project and explore how our missions can align, please complete the interest form through Galaxy. A member of our Volunteer Team will contact you directly.

Dear Kid Success Champion,

We are thrilled to share the launch of Brilliant Detroit's very own podcast -- Brilliant Together.

Each podcast episode will feature top experts, leaders and changemakers dedicated to strengthening families and children from belly (0) to eight. 

Conversations explore a range of topics and thought leadership on engaging families, mobilizing communities, and providing children with the support they need to reach their full potential.

Brilliant Together is now available on Apple and Spotify. We are so excited to have made this project a reality and to continue lifting up the amazing work happening in the early childhood education and care space.

Yours in Kid Success,

Brilliant Detroit is dedicated to building kid success neighborhoods where families with children 0-8 have what they need to be school ready, healthy and stable. We do this by providing proven programming and support year round out of Brilliant Detroit homes in high-need neighborhoods.

If you are not already, become a FAN of Brilliant Detroit and receive the latest information happening at Brilliant!