Youth Arts Alliance · The Ypsilantian

Youth Arts Alliance (YAA) provides arts education workshops to youth across Michigan, describing its mission as "healing-centered." Founded in 2013, it has served over 10,000 youth and families, supported by over 100 local teaching artists. It is the type of organization that draws broad community support — and that is precisely why its subsidy chain requires documentation.

Public Resources Flowing to YAA · 326 E. Michigan Ave

🏛 Land transferred free — City of Ypsilanti transferred the 326 E. Michigan parcel to YAA at no cost

⚠️ Declared blighted — The land was declared blighted by the city, which unlocked eligibility for county grant funding

💰 County grants unlocked — Blight designation enabled YAA to access Washtenaw County grant programs

🎨 City-contracted branding — The city paid a contracted firm to provide branding/marketing services for the YAA project

🏗 Groundbreaking 2026 — The 326 E. Michigan groundbreaking was celebrated on the same day a February 2025 vacate notice at the Water Street encampment — a block and a half west — remains unenforceable, with reports of sexual assault and children in the woods

On the same day Ypsilanti celebrated the Youth Arts Alliance groundbreaking at 326 E. Michigan Ave — with land the city transferred free, declared blighted to unlock county grants, and paid a contracted firm to brand — a February 2025 vacate notice at the Water Street encampment, roughly a block and a half west on Water Street, remained unenforceable. The encampment has produced documented reports of sexual assault and children in the woods.

The city found the resources to transfer land, unlock grants, and fund branding for YAA. It has not found the ability to enforce a vacate notice at a nearby active encampment for over a year. This is not a statement about YAA's mission — it is a statement about resource allocation and political will.

Heather Martin — Founding Director / Simmons Endorser YAA Founding Director Heather Martin publicly endorsed Desiraé Simmons during the 2024 recall fight: "Her transparency, communication and commitment toward her goals in city council are aligned with all the reasons I voted for her. I am more aware and engaged as a constituent because of what I learn from Dez's sharing out of city business and her leadership on council." Martin is a Ward 3 resident.

Taryn Willis — YAA / YCS Communications Coordinator Taryn Willis is documented as both a YCS (Ypsilanti Community Schools) Communications Coordinator and a Growing Hope board member. She moderated the June 8, 2026 League of Women Voters / Growing Hope candidates forum for the 2026 Ypsilanti races. Growing Hope was founded by Amanda Edmonds — who endorsed Mayor Brown and serves as Secretary of the YCS Foundation board. These are the same institutional networks.

Nicole Brown — City Resources / Land Transfer The city resources flowing to YAA — free land, blight designation, contracted branding — flow through the Brown administration. Brown has endorsed and been endorsed by figures connected to the YAA institutional network (Edmonds, Somerville, Hodge).

Washtenaw County Grants The blight designation that unlocked county grant access for YAA connects YAA to the same Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners that unanimously voted the $1.2M ARPA grant to Supreme Felons Inc. The county has demonstrated a pattern of unanimous grant approvals to organizations in the Ypsilanti nonprofit ecosystem without documented due diligence failures coming to light until after the fact.

The Ypsilantian does not allege fraud, mismanagement, or misconduct by Youth Arts Alliance. YAA is a legitimate arts nonprofit with a documented mission, community support, and a decade of programming. What The Ypsilantian documents is the public resource allocation process — free land, blight designations, grant unlocking, and contracted city services — and the political network through which those resources flow. Those decisions are made by elected officials who are accountable to the public.