Every week, our DBG vans, drivers and team members are hard at work, delivering emergency food boxes to our students and families, and getting tens of thousands of masks and thousands of gallons of hand sanitizer to dozens of other nonprofits across SE Michigan. We are proud to introduce some of the DBG team members who are making our COVID-19 emergency response possible on the front lines. Meet Darryl Stanbrough.
Darryl started at DBG at a unique time — the day the City of Detroit began closing schools and businesses to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Just a week later, Governor Gretchen Whitmer put in place the stay-at-home order that remains in effect through the end of May.
“Transitioning to a new job is always an adjustment, but also having to change your way of life, too, has made it a huge adjustment,” Darryl says. “You just have to get used to a new routine and accept that there is no consistency right now. Change is the only constant.”
An adjunct faculty member at Oakland Community College and a GED tutor, Darryl joined the DBG team as our new Secondary Education Specialist focusing on high school students. His work with our students will help them transition to high school and help them find programs and careers that best fit their passions.
Now more than ever he is motivated to be there for the kids. He meets with them online daily and tutors ELA, science and math.
“You can clearly see the impact our commitment and consistency has on the students,” he says. “Often times, tutors and mentors are their only saving grace.”
When it comes to our COVID-19 emergency response, Darryl also hits the road each week for deliveries. He says on his route it takes a few hours to get to nearly two-dozen homes in and around the city of Detroit and the reward is tremendous.
“The families are so grateful,” he says. “When the kids come to the door, it really warms your heart to see them.”
Darryl and all DBG team members take a number of precautions including wearing masks and gloves at all times. Vans are constantly sanitized. He considers the deliveries some of the most important and transformative work he’s doing during the pandemic.
“You can’t do anything without your basic needs being met,” Darryl explains. “We are doing that and then we can move forward from there. Without gas, you don’t have the fuel to go.”
At home, his wife is also an educator. They spend their days working in different parts of their house, jumping on and off Zoom meetings and calls, and taking turns homeschooling their young daughter.
Darryl says teaching and mentoring young people is more than a job to him. It’s personal.
“I want to be what I didn’t have growing up,” he says. “The teachers I didn’t have. I want to impart on these kids that emotional intelligence is just as important as intellectual intelligence. I’m proud to be part of the DBG team helping to shape young lives.”