When people think of community, reading isn’t usually the first thing that comes to mind. It’s often seen as a solitary activity. However, one nonprofit has found that it’s anything but.

Since the pandemic, many people are still struggling to shake off the lingering effects of social isolation.

“Everyone was afraid to even talk to people,” said Karlita Johnson, describing her neighborhood during the pandemic. “You wanted to be respectful of everybody’s boundaries.”

Johnson lives in the Martin Park neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan, where her husband grew up. “He would reminisce about the neighborhood, but his memories are nothing like the things that we were seeing,” she said.

She’s not wrong. Community involvement has changed, and in 2023, the surgeon general declared a loneliness epidemic that is harming Americans’ physical and mental health.

A recent study found that the decline in social connections is worsened by a lack of what social scientists call “third spaces” — libraries, parks, coffee shops, youth sports leagues, and community centers. Church attendance has also dropped to historic lows.

People need places to gather and reasons to show up.

More than eight years ago, Cindy Eggleton and her cofounders, Carolyn and Jim Bellinson, launched their nonprofit, Brilliant Cities (formerly Brilliant Detroit), with a clear goal. They aimed to help Detroit’s children read at grade level by third grade. Then, there was an unexpected twist. 

Their approach — transforming vacant homes into neighborhood-driven child learning centers, or “hubs” — ended up revitalizing entire communities. Parents actively participate, helping with the children, spending time together, and receiving the support they need.

“Oftentimes, social organizations remove the family from the equation, and you can’t do that,” said Eggleton. “We live in families. At Brilliant, we’re working as much with the adult as we are with the child. It becomes more of a multiplier, as opposed to an addition problem.”

This year, Brilliant Cities is branching out to Philadelphia, with future expansions planned in Chicago and Cleveland. With a waitlist that spans 31 cities and seven countries, could this neighborhood-driven, family-centered model redefine how we create lasting community change?

‘This is our house’

Typically, Brilliant Cities establishes a neighborhood hub by renovating a vacant home, with community members helping to find and update the property. Some hubs require more work than others.

One Sunday morning, Eggleton showed up at the site of the next neighborhood hub. The open house was weeks away, but the work was far from done. “It wasn’t going well,” she later recalled. “We weren’t getting it done fast enough, and I was worried.”

As she pulled up to the house, Darnetta Banks, the hub’s community engagement manager, was on the front porch. She had lived on the block since she was 5 years old.

“You couldn’t sleep either?” Eggleton asked.

Banks just shook her head and smiled. “Go inside,” she said.

Eggleton opened the door and froze. The house was alive with activity — neighbors scraping and painting in every room. 

“Darnetta, this is unbelievable,” Eggleton said through tears. “We can pay for this.”

Before she could finish, one of the men stepped forward. “Cindy,” he said firmly, “you don’t have to pay. This is our house.”

“That is what we do,” Eggleton explained later as she recounted the story. “That is what we nurture. When you allow people to be part of their own change, magical things happen — we say, ‘Brilliant things happen.’” 

The Fitzgerald house, which opened on time a few weeks later, is one of 24 neighborhood hubs in Detroit. Each hub is led by a local community engagement manager and guided by an advisory board of community members. Together, they’ve served more than 24,000 people across the city. 

Brilliant Cities hubs offer core programs, including literacy support for children ages 0-8, parenting resources, and health and fitness initiatives. Beyond these essentials, each neighborhood determines additional programs based on local needs, from art and martial arts to book clubs and entrepreneurship. 

The hubs foster a sense of community and belonging. While children receive one-on-one tutoring, parents build connections and support one another, creating a family-like environment. The nonprofit is not just revitalizing homes but also restoring the relationships and community spirit of underserved neighborhoods.

Child literacy brings families and communities together

Focusing on kindergarten readiness and grade-level reading by third grade is vital, as these milestones are major predictors of long-term success. Eggleton often says, “Up until third grade, you’re learning to read. After third grade, you’re reading to learn.”

Brilliant Cities views its literacy and community efforts as one and the same. Its summer reading program has surpassed the Detroit City School District’s, with 92% of Brilliant Cities students maintaining or improving their reading levels over the break.

These programs for young children engage parents who are deeply invested in their children’s futures. In surveys with the nonprofit, 96% of adult participants said they feel closer to each other and the neighborhood. 

Eggleton shared the story of Jasmine, a 26-year-old mother of four, who came to Brilliant Cities after years of struggling with homelessness, mental health challenges, and low literacy skills. She began attending programs with her kids five days a week, eventually rallying for her local hub to open on Saturdays.

Surrounded by a supportive community that she interacted with daily, Jasmine has transformed her life. Her children now excel academically; her daughter even won a reading award at her school. Jasmine herself has advanced from a first to a sixth-grade reading level, earned her GED, and now works as a staff member at Brilliant Cities. She has become a key contributor to programs offered at hubs across Detroit. She even owns her own home. 

“Cindy, do you realize every dream I told you has come true?” she told Eggleton. “All of my dreams have come true.” 

“You need new dreams now,” Eggleton replied.

How to show up for your community

Johnson has seen the power of these hubs up close. She is the community engagement manager of the Martin Park hub. 

Recently, one parent told Johnson that her daughter cried when she threatened to skip a visit to the hub as discipline for bad behavior. The mom confessed to Johnson that she’d never follow through. “I come here for myself, too,” she told Johnson. “Coming here feeds my soul.”

Dionndra Smith brings her 8-year-old daughter, Lexington, to Martin Park after school four days a week. In the two years they’ve been coming, Lexington has grown more confident. During a recent field trip to a history museum, the tour guide asked the group to name the country across the river from Detroit.

“My daughter jumped up and shouted, ‘It’s Canada! It’s Canada! I learned that at the hub!’” Smith said. “And the best part is, she’s not just learning — she’s having fun, and she’s actually retaining the information.”

While Lexington enjoys tutoring and activities like yoga, theater improv, science club, and art classes, Smith stays involved by helping with the children’s activities, supporting other parents, and going on walks with them.

“Sometimes we sit and chat because it’s like a family here,” she said. “So it’s just like catching up with your sisters, aunts, and cousins.”

Smith realized how much she needed those relationships when her mother passed away. After grieving alone for some time, she walked into the Martin Park hub, trying to keep it together.

“I don’t even know what happened,” she said. “It felt like it was a normal day when I walked in,  but right then, I just broke down crying. Karlita stopped what she was doing, and we sat down on the couch, and she helped me through my moment. I felt like a weight had been lifted.” 

That moment stuck with Johnson, too. 

“It was an emotional conversation,” she said. “I also experienced the death of my mom, so I could relate. When something like that happens, you can’t fix it, but you can listen and hear what they’re going through and talk with them about it. You make the time because that’s what it means to show up and be there for your community.”

Connection and belonging are at the heart of this work. At a community dinner hosted by Brilliant Cities, a longtime resident who had spent over 35 years raising her children in the neighborhood knitted 77 hats — one for each guest. When Eggleton asked why, she replied, “This was my neighborhood, then it wasn’t, and now it is again.”

Brilliant Cities is supported by Stand Together Foundation, which partners with the nation’s most transformative nonprofits to break the cycle of poverty.

Learn more about Stand Together’s efforts to build strong and safe communities and explore ways you can partner with us.