Free food, live music, sports tickets and a shot at a $500 Visa gift card are the hooks, but the real target this Saturday in Highland Park is something much bigger: a financial system that leaves nearly a quarter of Detroit-area residents locked out. The “Let's Talk Mi Money” block party lands at Avalon Village on Saturday, August 15, bringing state agencies, banks and grassroots groups together for a free, block party-style event aimed at helping people of all ages build financial independence.
The event is sponsored by the Michigan Department of Treasury through its Mi Money Matters financial literacy campaign, according to The Michigan Chronicle, which first reported on the event. The Michigan Treasury Department has teamed with the Ballmer Group and civic leaders across Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties to bring the campaign directly into neighborhoods, and Avalon Village in Highland Park will host Saturday's gathering. Attendees are set to receive free financial tools and a free meal, with food coming from Khalifa's Mobile Kitchen and Taste of Motown, plus live music, grocery gift cards, free sports tickets, and two $500 Visa gift card grand prizes up for grabs.
Hosting the event at Avalon Village carries its own weight. The 45-lot campus on Avalon Street was built by activist Shamayim “Mama Shu” Harris, who transformed blighted urban lots into an eco-village with a homework house and marketplace after the loss of her two-year-old son in 2007, according to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Harris is also running for Highland Park mayor against incumbent Glenda McDonald, a race Hoodline detailed in its earlier report on the mayoral showdown — and McDonald herself has signed on as an official ambassador for the Mi Money Matters campaign.
Why Highland Park Was Chosen
The numbers explain why state officials picked this city. Highland Park has a median household income of $29,309 and a poverty rate of 40.9 percent — more than three times Michigan's statewide poverty rate of 13.2 percent — per U.S. Census Bureau data. State Treasury officials have identified Highland Park alongside Detroit, Pontiac, Ecorse and Inkster as five of Michigan's 10 most unbanked cities, prioritizing them for financial empowerment interventions.```json` — that reliance on alternative financial services carries a real cost, with unbanked and underbanked Michiganders incurring an average of $3,000 per year in fees.
Detroit itself includes roughly a quarter of residents who are unbanked or underbanked, and traditional financial services such as savings accounts, credit cards and personal checks remain out of reach for many. State Treasury survey data released in March found that nearly 80 percent of metro Detroiters earning under $125,000 annually have never received formal personal finance education, and more than 40 percent of households in that income bracket lack confidence in creating a debt paydown plan. Metro Detroiters broadly report finding it difficult to save money or stick to a monthly budget.
A Long List of Partners Behind the Push
“Let's Talk Mi Money” draws on a wide coalition. Partners include the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, First Independence Bank of Detroit, Michigan First Credit Union, Lake Michigan Credit Union, Bank of America, the Center for Working Families, Michigan Education Trust, Junior Achievement of Southeastern Michigan, the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential, and Rx Kids. The Mi Money Matters financial empowerment initiative treats community events like this one as a core part of its outreach strategy alongside digital tools.
Rx Kids, one of the event's partners, expanded its maternal cash-stipend program to Highland Park and five other Wayne County municipalities in November, according to WDIV ClickOnDetroit. The program provides expectant mothers with $1,500 during pregnancy and $500 monthly for six months after birth, amounting to up to $4,500 in direct cash assistance for participating families.
Behind the Ballmer Group Funding
The financial muscle behind the broader campaign comes from the Ballmer Group, which is supporting the effort with a $1.5 million grant. Founded in 2015 by Connie and Steve Ballmer, the group invests in Washington state, Los Angeles County and southeast Michigan, focusing on improving economic mobility for children and families across the country.
The block party also fits into a longer-term push tied to Michigan classrooms. Under Public Act 148 of 2022, all public high school students in Michigan must complete a half-credit personal finance course before graduating, starting with the Class of 2028, according to Ramsey Solutions. Michigan Department of Education records from March showed that 280 of 422 high schools in the Detroit Metro Prosperity Region currently have teaching assignments eligible to instruct those required courses, as school districts across the tri-county area work to meet the mandate.
Saturday's gathering at Avalon Village is free to attend, with the state framing it as a hands-on complement to MiMoneyMatters.org, the digital portal launched in the spring offering budgeting tools, debt paydown guides and retirement resources. For a city where four in ten residents live in poverty, organizers are betting that free food, prizes and a block party atmosphere can pull more families into a conversation about money that state data suggests most of them have never formally had.
