DTE’s team is deeply embedded in communities throughout the state – from volunteer initiatives, partnerships and board support.
In Oakland County, DTE’s Marketing Director, Pina Vyas, has been making a difference for years being part of Micah 6 Community’s board, a nonprofit that has been growing food in Pontiac since 2013 and is the city’s oldest and largest local food growing operation.
The organization started on one vacant lot with a few garden beds. Today, Micah 6 Community manages 1.25 acres of growing space which includes 65 fruit trees, three greenhouses, chickens and bees.
Pina joined Micah 6 in September 2021 when the organization’s Executive Director Coleman Yoakum contacted DTE for support.
“Ever since they first reached out, their mission spoke to me,” said Pina. “After having conversations with the team, it was such a natural fit and I was happy to join the board.”
In her work, she helps further the organization’s mission through fundraising, event planning and community projects.
“It was really great to join the board of an organization that was uplifting Oakland County, especially Pontiac and all it has to offer,” Pina shared.
The organization recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its greenhouse expansion in Pontiac for the Micah 6 Community Gardens, which represents a more than $100,000 investment in the food work in the neighborhood.
With it operational, food can be grown all year long and produce more pounds of food to put into homes in the community. Once it was built, Micah 6 Community invited two other organizations, Growing Pontiac and the Farm at Trinity Health Pontiac, to share the space and grow food together. Cumulatively, the three organizations have planted more than 10,000 seedlings for various growing operations in Pontiac already this year.