In this week’s edition of Money, I’m Home Lynne is joined by Tim Hileman of Special Olympics Michigan to announce an exciting new partnership and many incredible upcoming opportunities. Learn more about this exciting partnership in our blog post: Consumers Credit Union Partners with Special Olympics Michigan to Build Tomorrow’s Champions.

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0:00:06.4 Lynne Jarman-Johnson (LJJ): Money, I’m Home. Welcome in. I’m Lynne Jarman-Johnson with Consumers Credit Union. From finance to fitness, we have it all. And today, we have a very special announcement that we’re going to be focusing on. I’ll tell you what, I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to tape this podcast. I’m introducing you to Tim Hileman. He is the executive director, the CEO, President. What a big, big title for Special Olympics Michigan. Hi, welcome in.

0:00:35.5 Tim Hileman (TH): Hi, Lynne. Great to be with you today.

0:00:37.8 LJJ: Well, I’ll tell you what. We have been working secretly, like top secret for quite some time, and now we get to announce something that is so exciting for the state of Michigan and actually the world. Tell us a little bit about yourself before we get into the project.

0:00:53.5 TH: I always joke that I’ve got the fancy title, but it’s really our athletes who are the true leaders of Special Olympics, and they provide inspiration for all of us at the State Office, but July 1st will be my three years with the organization. Prior, I was a long-time fan in the stands and just really honored to be a part of such a great mobile movement that is Special Olympics.

0:01:16.4 LJJ: So, Tim, three years ago, all of a sudden you put on a new hat, and I will say that I think the visioning started, and tell us about where Special Olympics Michigan was and where it’s going.

0:01:30.2 TH: Sure, so I came onboard right during the 50th anniversary celebration of Special Olympics, and so an incredible time to celebrate 50 years, but the organization has really been… I’d say in that time transforming from not only a sports organization, and again, we provide incredible sports opportunities here in Michigan, 24 sports, for individuals with intellectual disabilities and unified partners. But during that time and transition year after celebrating that 50th anniversary, the organization has really been outreaching in other services. So, a program called Unified Champion Schools that really works on partnering individuals with and without disabilities in the school settings and trying to create climates and cultures of change. We have a young athletes program ages two to seven for young athletes and gross motor skill, development play. We have a healthy program. So many individuals know us for our sports, but not a lot of those other programs, and so as we were talking as a staff and also with coaches and athletes, boy, it would be awesome to find a place or an opportunity to bring them all under one roof and really create awareness for all of the great things for Special Olympics and all the great things our athletes do.

0:02:46.1 LJJ: The organization had originally had its headquarters up in Mount Pleasant, if I’m not mistaken, up in the CMU area, but all of a sudden, how did the seed plant in your head to think differently and move the headquarters?

0:03:03.3 TH: When I first got the job, I had joked to hit the road and do the road show. So Special Olympics Michigan is in every county in the state of Michigan and I spent at least my first six months traveling to as many programs as we can from the upper peninsula to Detroit, just listening and learning. And one of the things that came up consistently was, “It’s really hard to find practice space. We’re always on someone else’s facility. We’re always second nature.” Our athletes were always getting third, fourth, fifth option, and really took that to heart. And so, one day I was driving by the former South Christian High School, and saw like, “Oh, there’s sports fields, there’s a gymnasium.” I thought, “Boy, this could be everything that we would hope for to have athletes’ practice.” So, it was just this wild idea and had some conversations with staff and took it to our board of directors about a month later. I was a little nervous saying, “Okay, you’ve got a new CEO.” We’ve just come off the 50th anniversary, and I said, “What do you think about us exploring this opportunity? This is what I’ve heard from athletes, this is what I’ve heard from coaches.” And they were all for it, and so it was fantastic.

0:04:15.6 TH: So, it really came about from our athletes in practice and just not having a place that was their own. Anytime that a Special Olympics athlete before had practiced or competed, it was on someone else’s property, and so what an incredible gift and opportunity for us to be able to have a facility where our athletes could practice on their home field and their turf and compete and that’s what really drove it. And from there, as you mentioned, it’s just been exhilarating process, and the project has turned into so much more.

0:04:48.2 LJJ: Here’s the cool part. If you don’t know where South Christian High is, it’s in the Grand Rapids market. And on Thursday, you announced something that is just incredible for not only the state of Michigan, but for Special Olympics worldwide. Tell us about it.

0:05:04.9 TH: Yeah, so we announce the Building Tomorrow’s Champions capital campaign, and that campaign is really to take funds and transform the high school into not only the world’s largest Special Olympics facility, but the world’s greatest. And the facility will, as I mentioned, not only contain multiple gymnasiums, but sports, an athletic style track that we’ll get to in a little bit, soccer fields, flag football. It’s got an auditorium, there’s classrooms for training, and so it’s got a great location. When we drop the pin on the building, there’s close to 9,000 athletes within a 60-mile radius of that, and we know that there’s going to be more. And so, the Building Tomorrow’s Champions campaign is raising funds to keep up and renovate this building into something that all of our athletes, all of our friends, our partners, can be proud of. And again, it’s going to be the world’s largest Special Olympics facility located on 17 acres, 127,000 square foot building, but it’s also going to be the greatest.

0:06:05.6 LJJ: Well, I think it was about two years ago, and I’ll check my notes. I have the actual note because I was really honored. I received a note from Juliet Dragos from WZZM and from Brian Kelly from the Small Business Administration, and they both politely asked whether or not I would be involved in the capital campaign. And so we started meeting, and I can tell you, Tim, without hesitation that the transformation, just being able to tour the building, and this was before COVID. We got to meet in person before COVID hit and tour the building and see where the vision was going to be. And I think for me, what truly impacted me was seeing how many organizations were going to be under one roof, that brought such inclusion into what… Normally, you just think of as athletes, and it’s truly so much more than that, Tim.

0:07:06.8 TH: Yeah, absolutely. And again, so we looked and purchased the building for our Special Olympics athletes, but knew, with the size of it we can do so much more. And so early on, knowing that there was so much available space, we started talking to just other community partners, community leaders that do great things, and providing services throughout West Michigan, and through that there were ideas and thoughts. And every time I toured with someone, whether it was a business leader, or a non-profit, or a partnership, they would always share these great ideas, and I thought, “Boy, that’s great. Let’s work on that.” And so now it’s really transformed into not only this awesome training Special Olympics competition venue, but really, a whole collaborative hub of services. There’s actually going to be nine other organizations that will be based out of this facility, providing services, organizations like Disability Advocates of Kent County, Autism Support of Kent County, Down Syndrome Association of West Michigan, Mental Health Foundation, and many others. Again, what we love about is just the efficiency of it, and problem solving, and service areas that we’re going to be able to provide, kind of that one-stop shop for all individuals and families.

0:08:21.5 LJJ: So, Consumers, we are so proud to have stepped up to the plate. We’re not going to give it all away, but I will be able to share with everybody right now that our entire team of over 400 team members are so thrilled to be your Inclusion Partner, from volunteering, that we’re going to plan, to helping with support on the capital campaign, but then years down the road, really helping continue the mission to help all of us learn more, and also participate. So, we will be donating in goods and services over a million dollars to Special Olympics Michigan, Tim, and we cannot be prouder.

0:09:05.3 TH: It’s just incredible. And again, we’re so thrilled for this partnership, and just the conversations with the Consumers Credit Union team, and just knowing how important inclusion is with your organization. And we couldn’t have had a better partner. As you said, with this campaign, and the announcement on Thursday, it’s not the end, it’s really the beginning. And we’re so thrilled and can’t wait to have volunteers out there, and in joining. I know our athletes can’t wait for those days as well.

0:09:36.3 LJJ: Well, I’ll tell you, the one thing that is making me laugh because we have a volunteer coordinator, John, who is going to volunteer, feet on the ground to get all of our team ready to volunteer too, and it’s been so funny, because that’s the only thing they’re asking, is when, when, when, when, when. And so what we need to do is start doing some stuff before the building is ready. We’ll get out and be like in concert and get rocking and rolling. So, we cannot thank you for your vision, Tim, it truly… And I know it’s not just you, it is a huge team of Board members from across the state, of volunteers, of family members, of health care professionals. The list goes on and on.

0:10:19.1 TH: Yes.

0:10:20.0 LJJ: And if you don’t mind I’ll give you the chance to say thanks, too.

0:10:24.1 TH: As you mentioned, it doesn’t happen without an incredible community of partners and supporters. One, having a Board that is transformational thinking and believes in “how can we do things better, how can we raise more awareness?” So, a project like this doesn’t happen without our great Board and staff, who provide those… It also doesn’t happen, as I mentioned, without our 20,000+ athletes across the state, who just champion inclusion when… During the pandemic, when things were tough and things bleak, all I had to do was talk to an athlete and they provided hope. When things were tough they showed their grit and determination.

 

0:11:04.1 TH: So, a project like this doesn’t happen without them. And then so many community members and supporters for this project to kind of get us off the ground, and to start with some immediate transformational needs for the building, and really kind of long-term, as we said, to make it just this transformational project. I’ll say, our athletes can’t wait to get back to competing. And the light is there as we kind of continue through the end of the tunnel. Next month, we’re starting some of our… Back to our a little larger in-person events, and really waiting for our fall traditional competition calendar, which we can’t wait. So, we’ll definitely be in contact with your volunteer coordinator, because those are going to be great. And the only warning I will have is that once you attend a Special Olympics event you’re locked, and you’re going to be there all the time. And we can’t wait for that.

0:11:54.8 LJJ: Well, Tim, thank you, again. And for anyone that is listening today to this podcast, and if you are interested in not only volunteering your time, but serving in a different capacity for the capital campaign or donating, please do us a favor. We will have the links on our website as well as in this podcast link when it posts, so please take part, and please become a part of our wonderful journey that is just beginning. Tim, thank you so much.

0:12:25.5 TH: Well, yeah, well, thank you so much, and, again, thank you to the entire Consumers Credit Union family. We’re just thrilled with this partnership.

0:12:33.0 LJJ: And I love the word family, because it’s so true. So, we welcome all of us as we become a one big family, and you can join too, if you’re listening. I’m Lynne Jarman-Johnson with Consumers Credit Union. From finance to fitness, we’ve got it all. Thank you Jake Esselink for your production skills. And again, if you’d like to volunteer, or donate please do so by checking into somi.org, S-O-M-I.org, or consumerscu.org.

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