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Peer Power
Move over, Millennials. Here comes Gen Z.
MEET EMMY LULKIN:
IN SHORT
Vivian Henoch | Special to the Jewish News
What were your projects?
Emmy: I worked with the Eden Garden
Block Club, associated with the Isaac
Agree Downtown Synagogue (IADS). Eden
Garden is really a beautiful place, fighting
blight in a neighborhood on the east side
of Detroit. Food grown in the garden goes
26 July 28 • 2016
to neighborhood volunteers and Shabbat
dinners at IADS. Over the winter months,
we worked in the Downtown Synagogue to
help organize their newly renovated kitch-
en. We also painted planters for volunteers
in the garden to plant seeds.
Maya: I worked with kids in the base-
ment of the Church of the Messiah, which
they have turned into a youth and job
program they call the Mt. Elliott Maker
Space. It’s been an interesting year working
with them in their wide range of activities.
It can be gardening one week, bike repair
another or just playing with the kids who
show up each week. It’s taught me a lot
about planning, creativity and communi-
cating.
Will: I worked at Voices for Earth
Justice at the Hope House in Brightmoor, a
neighborhood with a lot of blight. Working
with Naim Edwards, program manager
and a garden designer, I was part of a
mentoring program for youth with a focus
on interfaith networking and environmen-
tal and science education.
ON LESSONS LEARNED
What have you learned from your expe-
rience with PeerCorps and how has that
changed your view of the city?
Emmy: Before PeerCorps, I thought of
Detroit as a place with nothing going on
for me. Today, I think of Detroit as my city,
and I love showing friends who visit all
the cool things going on here. And I like to
take pictures!
Maya: I think PeerCorps has shown me
how wide the scope of the city is.
Will: What PeerCorps has taught
me: Don’t judge a book by its cover. I’ve
learned that you have to dig deeper to
really understand a place and that the con-
nections you establish get more meaning-
ful over time.
Maya: I agree completely with Will on
that point. A huge part of my experience
has been communication — the real work
of becoming part of a community, entering
it respectfully and mentoring kids in ways
to learn and make friends.
Emmy: There are so many opportuni-
ties to learn and to do this kind of work in
the city. There are girls I’ve met working in
the garden — we’re so similar, and yet we
live worlds apart in the same city. I feel so
lucky to have the opportunities I’ve had.
Photos by John Hardwick
B
orn in the late ’90s, barely out of
high school, they are coming of
age today. Tech-savvy, app-happy
and connected — a generation raised in
the era of smartphones and Snapchat —
they are smart about their choices, com-
mitted to real and meaningful work in
their community, passionate about Detroit
and here to make a difference.
Beyond their notable academic achieve-
ments and extracurricular activities, Emily
“Emmy” Lulkin, Maya Goldman and Will
Shulak have participated as mentors with
PeerCorps Detroit, a yearlong program
in partnership with Federation, Repair
the World and area congregations, invit-
ing Jewish teens, b’nai mitzvah students
and their families from all denominations
to build deep relations with one another
through community-based work in
Detroit.
How has their service to PeerCorps
influenced Emmy, Maya and Will and
what are their dreams for the future? Here,
they share their thoughts:
Emmy: I had been looking for more
meaningful work in the community. This
program seemed to be a perfect fit of
grassroots and genuine. I really liked that
it was Jewish.
Maya: My sisters were mentees in the
first years of PeerCorps, and they certainly
influenced my own decision to become a
mentor. I wanted to work in Detroit, where
my grandparents grew up — to have that
kind of connection — and to get to better
know the city. I also liked the idea of the
program running all year long so I could
build relationships and invest myself in the
work.
Will: A friend of mine was a second-
year mentor, so I heard about all the great
experiences he had. My mom and her
siblings also grew up in Detroit, so my
family always has had a connection to the
city. Though I had worked at the Eastern
Market a little before joining PeerCorps,
I really valued the cohesive experience I
gained in the program.
From Bloomfield Hills, a junior at
Groves High School, Emmy has
been elected president of student
council for her senior year. This
summer, she has chosen to con-
tinue her work as a mentor in a
PeerCorps pilot summer program
for students in grades 6-12.
Loves camp and kids, and wants to make
the world a better place. Only 5 feet tall, but
#shortgirlsdoitbetter.
MEET MAYA GOLDMAN:
WORLD TRAVELER
A student/camper/reader/traveler/optimist
looking for adventures and ways to help out in
Detroit and the broader world.
From Farmington Hills, a graduate
of North Farmington High School,
captain of her cross-country team,
involved in Model U.N. and writing
for her school’s literary magazine,
Maya will attend the University of
Michigan in the fall. A world trav-
eler (literally), at 13, Maya spent
a year with her family circling the
globe. As a counselor this summer,
Maya will complete her 10th year
at Tamarack Camps.
MEET WILL SHULAK:
ACTOR, SINGER, WRITER
Excited to bring his skills in people-to-people
interaction to build meaningful experiences to
Detroit and to college moving forward.
HOPES AND DREAMS
Emmy: My hope is to use all the oppor-
tunities I’ve been provided to give back to
others around the world. After college, I
want to move to Africa to learn about dif-
ferent cultures and help people peacefully
coexist.
Maya: At the moment, as I look forward
From Huntington Woods, a
graduate of Berkley High School,
Will is headed to the residential
college of the University of
Michigan in September. Actor,
singer, comic-book enthusiast
and sometimes stand-in help
for produce sales at the Eastern
Market, Will plans to pursue
his passion for performing arts,
journalism and community
building through his college
studies.
to college, I want to find a field of study I
really love and run with it.
Will: I want to live in a world that is
safe, heathy and prosperous.
*
Vivian Henoch is editor of Federation’s myjewish-
detroit.org, where a longer version of this story first
appeared.