Local 400 Members Make Wishes Come True

Story by Jennifer John
Photos by Local 400

You have to ask for what you want. That’s what folks at a non-profit clinic in suburban Detroit found out.

Last summer, counselors at the Macomb Child Guidance Clinic in Mount Clemens visited the Ford Visteon plant in nearby Chesterfield to hold a depression screening for UAW workers.

When members of Local 400’s Community Service Committee discovered that the clinic--which offers counseling and other services to adults and children--needed their help, they asked what they could do.

So the clinic put together a “wish list” and gave it to the committee. Initially, Local 400 members donated couches and other furniture for the clinic’s waiting room. That led to the “Paint the Barn” project.

The rest, as they say, is history.

First, they cleaned out an old barn, which contained 30 years’ worth of “stuff” that had been in storage. They filled three, 30-yard trash containers. Then they had a yard sale for the salvageable items and made about $300, which was put back into the project.

According to Mike Robinson, who is on the committee and has worked at the Visteon plant since 1994, the clinic is actually a turn-of-the-century home on a 5-acre parcel of land.

“They were going to sell but decided it was a good location and needed to be saved,” he said.

Students from L’Anse Creuse High School helped build a handicap ramp.

And that inaugural barn project at the clinic has turned into an ongoing one that includes painting, landscaping and renovation. One special part of the renovation was the construction of a handicap ramp at the clinic’s back entrance, which cost more than $2,000 in materials.

Local 400 members worked every Saturday from September on until it was too cold to continue. They also had some UAW-approved “outsourced” help.

The clinic is across the street from L’Anse Creuse High School in Clinton Township. The committee enlisted the help of a few dozen students from the school’s building trades program, under the direction of Carl D’Angelis.

“We used three shifts of kids per day for three weeks,” Robinson said. “If it weren’t for those kids, that ramp still wouldn’t be finished.”

Local businesses also pitched in with donations such as paint, lumber, plants and flowers. An area Home Depot was a big contributor, and Robinson said they hope to arrange an account with the store that they can draw on for materials. He also said other nearby businesses have expressed an interest to get involved.

Local 400 volunteers pitched in with painting, landscaping and renovation.

In addition, this year the high school’s botanical program will help with the committee’s landscaping efforts.

“The UAW is often painted as just being concerned about wages and benefits,” said the union’s Community Services Director Jim Carpenter. “People rarely see this side of UAW members that are out there in the community, doing the type of work that Local 400 has been doing. And we’ve been doing it for years.”

Robinson said the ongoing project was clearly a team effort, adding that Plant Chairman Larry Reichle donated the use of his truck to move lumber and materials to the clinic. A wooden play structure and swing set were donated by Local 400 members Leona Ferante and Ron O’Toole.

“When you look at the roles people played, it may have seemed minimal at the time, but it was huge,” said Robinson. “All the volunteers did an incredible job.”
Since last fall’s project, Visteon has also donated $7,000 to the clinic.

This year’s activities include building a picket fence, installing a swing set, and putting up the wooden play structure. They also hope to build another ramp in Shelby for a UAW member’s family in need.

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