Jacqueline Moore honored among Black History Month Game Changers

The Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers and Comerica Bank are proud to continue the second year of the
Game Changers series
as the organizations continue celebrating Black History Month.
This week's Game Changers honoree is Jacqueline Moore, who is the founder of the northwest Detroit-based non-profit organization, SDM2.

SDM2 provides a variety of academic services for middle and high school students. Through utilizing outdoor recreational activities in a safe, clean and inviting environment, SDM2 cultivates educational development in the community.
"Through SDM2, Jacqueline Moore and her family have become a beacon of hope and inspiration for families in the city," said Kevin Brown, director of community impact for Ilitch Sports + Entertainment. "With an extensive set of services that provide what it takes to be successful in life not only for the child, but the family unit as well, we're proud to celebrate Jacqueline as a Game Changers honoree."
The initials of Silver Danielle Moore and Shannon Delise Moore, the adult daughters of Moore and her husband, Willie F. Moore Jr., make up the organization's name. And according to Moore, its vision was built on the importance of family.
"We wanted to promote growth within our daughters, academically, and just get them to have a greater understanding of the community," she explained. "We thought it was perfect to name it after them because of everything that we did. Our whole premise was when you invest in other people, the rest takes care of itself."

What began as an idea to help Silver Danielle Moore and her classmates improve their literacy more than 20 years ago has transformed into an organization that supports hundreds of Detroiters every year.
"We really spend a lot of time with families, talking with them, trying to help them with resources and trying to help them through situations," Moore said. "Most of our youth, 99.9 percent, come from a single-family with a mom trying to do everything. We do our best to help them with things that they need to make life less of a challenge."
As a mother, Moore understands how significant youth development is for children to meet the challenges of adulthood.
"People lack patience with them (youth) and give up on them, then they often give up on themselves," she said. "We try to make as much investment in them as possible to let them know how valued they are."

Support takes on many forms at the SDM2 House, a home converted into a community center they call Moore Park in northwest Detroit. There, youth receive free access to literacy resources, free library access and after-school tutoring as part of SDM2 Project Education.
"Healthy families build healthy communities. We really believe in that motto, one that we've recently embraced," Moore said. "A child is the focal point of that. Whether it's their own academic pursuit, whether it's getting them resources related to housing and food, or whether it's just somebody to talk to because they're struggling, we try to help youth do their very best."
Empowering others drives Moore, who said improving reading proficiency levels is the key to bridging gaps in the community.
"We're really pushing literacy with comprehension because I want my youth to understand they should, and can, have a seat at the table," she said. "The city of Detroit is growing, and I'm excited about that. But there are going to be people left behind, particularly some of these young folks who don't have a good foundation. The ability to read with understanding, and to be able to utilize that, is very important but lacking within our community."
In addition to providing literary support, SDM2 offers youth mentorship programs, including a community food garden that forms relationships between youth and elders.
"We're going to use food to look at opportunities not to just educate youth academically, but to put things in place so the family, as a whole, can be educated on food and nutrition," Moore said. "We believe this is going to help the child academically and while there's a lot of things that play a part to that, it's what we are focused on and building."
This spring and summer, Moore said several health education and food-based initiatives are being prepared to help combat the pandemic.
"Now we're talking about impacting the family as a whole and are thinking about this even more because of COVID-19," Moore said. "We want a village mindset, but you need to make sure the village is well first. We're building a program now that will combine our youth and seniors to promote health and wellness. We're actively pursuing a food trailer, too, so our youth and seniors can join and get meals on-site together."
Moore said she hopes such programs will help remind Detroiters of the importance of their neighbors.
"To bring generations together, that's community. Sitting in a shared space and sharing a meal, that's community," she said. "Both youth and seniors are areas that are sometimes forgotten, taken advantage of and areas where we don't always look at the value that each one of them brings to the table. So we're trying to evolve to find ways to bring these entities together."
As the needs of the community continue to grow, Moore recognizes the value of giving people the tools they need to thrive.
"The work is not seasonal. It is year-round and ever-needed," she said. "If you truly want to impact a neighborhood, impact a city, then you need to get boots to the ground and make a difference."

Since SDM2's inception, the Moore family has attracted considerable media attention and public awareness. For Moore, the amplification of SDM2's programming attracts more community members looking to make a difference.
"We don't look to be recognized, but recognition is important not just for ourselves, but for what it could bring for our organization," she said. "Having people be aware of what we do and giving them an opportunity to participate in the experience, that's what recognition provides. We're just focused on doing the work, but we want people to recognize work is continuous."
For more information about SDM2 and SDM2 Project Education, visit
SDM2ProjectEducation.com
.