Detroit community resource center "Destined For Greatness" ahead of grand opening
(CBS DETROIT) - From diapers to dressing for their first job, Destined For Greatness has been giving back to young women and children for nearly two decades.
"My heart just goes out when someone come in and say I don't have. When they say they don't have, I go looking," said senior representative Betty Smith.
The nonprofit was originally founded and is currently run by executive director Shadora Ford, who is someone Smith says she always believed in since she was a little girl.
"When she was a young teenager, I told her, 'You are destined for greatness,'" Smith said.
However, after fishing for a new spot this year, DFG is finally getting a new space located on the bottom floor of the Samaritan Center located at 5555 Conner St. in Detroit.
Inside, it's filled with rooms including media spaces, a food pantry, and a room filled with free clothing to help young adults not only dress for their next job but dress for success.
"They know when they go for that first job interview, they have it," Smith said. "You are how you feel. If you feel good, you look good. Then, everything is alright."
One Detroit mother who has benefited from DFG is Kimiko Ross, a mother CBS News Detroit first spoke to after her apartment burned down nearly two weeks ago.
Ross says she has received help from "A lot of people, strangers, people I don't know" since speaking with CBS News Detroit, including DFG.
Smith set aside a bag full of clothes and shoes for both Ross and her 12-year-old son Reggie, something she has been accustomed to doing long before DFG was founded.
"I've been doing this since 1984," Smith said. "I'm very young. I'm still doing it."
And with being able to expand to a sizeable space compared to its previous one, Smith says all she's concerned about is making sure everyone who walks through the door, leaves destined for greatness.
"I want them to know that they are truly loved and at any time, they can come here," Smith says.
Destined For Greatness is scheduled to hold a ribbon cutting at 4 p.m. on Thursday. The public is invited to attend.
