The Fledge rallies through the coronavirus

When the coronavirus broke big in March, it was all-systems-go at The Fledge. The Lansing community center, with a dizzying array of services like computer coding clubs and business startup fundraisers in its repertoire, immediately went to work.

The effort saw The Fledge, which is housed in an old church on Eureka Street Street on Lansing’s east side, became a headquarters for important tasks such as emergency food distribution and mask production.

“On the very first day of the shutdown, High Caliber Karting had made a bunch of food that would’ve just rotted in their refrigerators. We took that food and passed it out to the community,” said owner Jerry Norris. “On the second day, we had another restaurant, so we put our pantry out on the porch so it was grab-and-go. We immediately began feeding the community.”

The Fledge didn’t just put its storage resources to use. It also took advantage of its supply of sewing and 3D printing machines as valuable tools to ramp up the production of masks.

“We got our sewing machines into the hands of people who could start sewing masks. We put our 3D printers into the basement of somebody’s house, so he could start 3D printing masks,” Norris said.

Another major concern at The Fledge in the beginning days of the pandemic and at the height of Michigan’s stay-at-home orders was losing connections with people that frequented The Fledge on a daily basis. Norris and company were also concerned about the members of Refuge Recovery, a therapy group for recovering drug addicts that meets often at The Fledge.

Like practically every other organization on planet Earth, The Fledge turned to virtual meeting applications such as Zoom for help. 

“We were worried about losing connections. A lot of people come here just to hang out, to have somebody to talk to if they’re struggling with something, whether it’s depression or thoughts about suicide,” Norris said.  “We immediately started working on virtual meetings with Refuge Recovery and Narcotics Anonymous, and we started a morning meeting where anybody could dial-in. We still do it today.”

One of the other main services of The Fledge is its assistance and guidance of small businesses or startups. The Fledge partners with LEAP on the monthly Hatching program, which provides funding to people who present creative business pitches to a panel of judges. The reward for a successful pitch is $2,000.

The Fledge also runs 99 Problems But a Pitch Ain’t One, which provides $99 grants on a weekly basis. Participants dial-in to a Zoom Call with Fledge members, pitch their idea in 99 seconds and — if it gets enough votes — they’re rewarded the cash.

Norris said The Fledge kept reaches out to businesses it has worked with to see which ones could help out in coronavirus relief efforts — and to see which ones needed relief of their own.

“We looked at who could pivot and start helping with COVID, and who needed to pivot to just survive this,” Norris said.

The Fledge was able to help certain businesses get started on providing virtual services, such as hosting online art shows and galleries.

But in order for The Fledge itself to survive, Norris said the same community it serves was highly generous with donations of its own.

“The community has been great. When the community needs us, we help them. When we need the community, they help us. It’s been a great symbiotic relationship,” Norris said.  “We put out a donor box, and people starting making donations immediately and we raised three months of operational costs in about 20 days.”

To check out The Fledge, visit Facebook.com/TheFledge.