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Affinity Celebrates Loving Day

By Rachel Lopez | June 12, 2019

Loving Day is an annual celebration of the 1967 case involving Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving (Loving vs. Virginia) which struck down the criminalization of interracial marriage. On June 12, cities across the US remember this monumental day and celebrate multiracial love, identity, and acceptance.

For Affinity, this day holds a special place for many of our staff and board members. We asked them to share a bit about why this day is important to them.

“I’m thankful for those that paved a way for us. If they hadn’t, I’m certain we would be doing what we could to do it today. We’ve never once regretted loving each other and/or creating the family we have together. When I look at our kids, the product of our loving marriage of nearly 18 years (and going strong) … I see a beautiful representation of who we are and what we believe in! We love this big, diverse world we live in and long for the day our local communities better reflect that diversity! Until then, we will represent the best we can in the lives we live!”

Missy Jackson, Board Member

    “When Wayne and I announced that we were engaged, we were told not to get married. We were told that people would treat us, and our future children, poorly because we’re an interracial couple. This month we’re celebrating our 10 year anniversary with our two beautiful children. We have experienced discrimination because of our interracial marriage. But, more frequently, we’ve been able to have really enlightening and beautiful conversations with people that cause them to think a bit differently. What can be more powerful to break down barriers than love?”

    Laura Ward, Executive Director

    “Thank you to the Lovings for fighting for their freedom to love, regardless of the discrimination they experienced. They have taught me that love is love regardless of what your partner looks like. Intertwining Vietnamese and Mexican culture has granted us both the opportunity to learn and experience new things in our lives.”

    Angela Reyna, Program Assistant

    “We were married in 1996 and have three BEAUTIFUL children with a heart for diversity in their friendships. We saw the Loving movie as a family a couple years back at a community celebration in Eastown. What was shocking to me was my son catching the fact that our marriage would still have been illegal in 2000, in at least one state.”

    Johana Rodriguez-Quist, Board Member

    “The idea of an anti-miscegenation law is difficult to grasp in 2019, which is a great thing. While some areas of our society certainly have a way to go when it comes to genuine tolerance and acceptance, we are happy and appreciate that we’re able to live our lives together and do not have to worry about the concept of state-sanctioned intolerance.”  

    Adam Russo, Board Member

    “Loving Day is important to me because I’m the product of an interracial relationship, and because I’m in one as well. I’m so grateful for people like the Lovings who worked so hard and sacrificed so much so that relationships like ours could be possible.”

    John Robinson, Board Member

    Angela + Jatnna’s Story

    By Rachel Lopez

    Jatnna helping Angela with homework.

    Jatnna Abreu, Senior Talent Development Specialist at Amway, just finished her first year of mentoring at Southwest Community Campus.

    “It’s worth it. You should absolutely do it. It’s so impactful for underrepresented students to see someone like us.”

    Jatnna is a strong advocate for inclusion initiatives. For the past 7 years she has been an integral part in helping grow Amway’s efforts in diversity and inclusion and ensuring people of color are supported by leaders and offered equitable opportunities. For the past two years she has organized Amway’s Professionals of Color Conference and is the Vice President of the Multicultural Inclusion Network.

    Jatnna and her sister, Loanna, as young teens.

    Jatnna understands first-hand the importance of strong mentors. As young teens, Jatnna and her younger sister, Loanna, moved to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic to live with their aunt. “My parents are both in the military and they wanted a better life for us. The quality of education and life is not the same as here. Education and getting degrees was very important to my parents.”

    Although they had visited for a few weeks at a time in the past, moving to Grand Rapids was very different than visiting. “Being 14 and not having your parents, going to a high school that wasn’t diverse, adapting to a new language and culture, and coming from a tropical island to MICHIGAN weather. It was very rough,” remembers Jatnna.

    Driven and passionate, Jatnna surrounds herself with strong female leaders but also pushes herself to be one. “I have informal mentors, like Stacy Stout and my boss at Amway, as well as a formal mentor at Amway, and of course my mom. I knew I wanted to be that for someone else.”

    Jatnna heard about becoming a mentor through a fellow sorority sister, Madeline Aguillon (current mentor and board member). Last fall she was matched with second grader, Angela, at Southwest Community Campus. “She’s sassy, very smart, and shy depending on who she’s with,” smiles Jatnna.

    A quiet and energetic student, Jatnna says, “Angela challenges me in a good way. That’s what I like about her. She asks questions that I’ve never thought about.”

    She recalls the first few weeks, “At first she didn’t want to talk until she got to know me. Now she talks about her family, her siblings, her mom who works and supports the household. She’s very brave and always looking to learn.”

    As a mom of a young toddler, Jatnna is glad that she doesn’t have to take time after work to mentor, “my boss is very supportive and encourages me to do things outside of Amway. She’s fine with me taking an hour to mentor each week.”

    Jatnna explains that parenting and mentoring is very different. “I’m his mom. I’m just trying to keep him alive, educate him and mold him into a good human being. Mentoring Angela is different. It’s easier. Maybe because she is older. I’m helping to guide her through life. I give her advice and I help her with homework then we have some fun.”

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    Affinity is need of 100 more mentors this fall, if you’re interested in becoming a mentor apply here >  

    ChoiceOne Bank Supports Affinity

    For the month of April 2019, our friends at ChoiceOne Bank selected Affinity Mentoring as their “Charity of Choice.” Employees held a “jeans day” to help raise funds to support mentoring.

    “We appreciate the work our friends at Affinity Mentoring are doing in our community. This organization works to improve students academic achievement, self-esteem, social skills and avoidance of problematic behavior by providing a positive relationship with a caring adult mentor who works to support youth in achieving their potential.”

    At the end of the month, the team at ChoiceOne donated a total of $500 to Affinity. These funds will be used to help recruit, screen, and train more mentors.

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    If your organization would like to learn more about hosting a Jeans Day Fundraiser please contact info@affinitymentoring.org.

    GFS Hosts Annual Spring Picnic

    By Marjory Clay

    May 22nd was our annual Southwest Community Campus (SWCC) Spring Picnic, hosted by Gordon Food Service. SWCC is one of our current school partners, and Gordon Food Service is Affinity’s largest community partner, providing over 60 mentors to our program each year. This fun-filled event brought our SWCC mentor matches and their families together for one last time, before the school year commences. Attendees enjoyed delicious hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, cookies and more, all generously donated by Gordon Food Service. Aside from the great food, there were yard games, laughs, and even a firetruck for the children to explore. Events like the SWCC Spring Picnic are the heart of Affinity. Thank you, GFS!

    See full album on Facebook!

    Affinity Partners with School for Burton Carnival

    By Marjory Clay

    May 17th we celebrated our annual Burton Carnival. This sought-after event took place at one of Affinity’s sites, Burton School of Grand Rapids. This was the second consecutive year which Affinity partnered with Burton Elementary School’s PTO to support this exciting event for its students, our mentees, mentors, and their families. The Burton Carnival is an entertaining way to raise money for Burton Elementary School, while celebrating the end of the year for mentor matches. Attendees shared smiles and laughs, while enjoying an array of carnival games, food, a bounce house, a cake walk and more. It was the perfect way to wrap up a great school year! Thank you to those who made this event possible and who were able to attend.

    See the full album on Facebook!