Introducing MECCA’s New Executive Director
MECCA (Morningside, East English Village, and Cornerstone Village Community Advocates) is pleased to introduce our new Executive Director, LeJuan Council.
In November, our Founder, Board Chair, and Executive Director Latisha Johnson was elected to City Council. We are excited for Latisha’s new role and believe she will continue to be a strong advocate for our community. This move means that there have been changes in MECCA leadership as well. Latisha Johnson is still our founder and Kimberly Benton will step in as Interim Board Chair.
MECCA has been in our community for nearly eight years, and we are still going strong! Our mission is to empower and engage residents and businesses across our three neighborhoods with the knowledge, skills, resources, and support needed to revitalize our communities in a sustainable way for future generations. Our programs focus on workforce development, residential development, support for youth, and support for seniors.
LeJuan Council brings a wealth of experience and skills to her new position at MECCA. A native Detroiter born and raised on the east side, she is a Jefferson Chalmers resident. After graduating from Finney High School (now EEV Prep), LeJuan earned a Master’s degree in finance from Strayer University in Virginia.
She is the owner of GCM Construction, LLC, which for twenty years has focused on renovating and managing properties throughout the east side. With the economic downturn in 2010, GCM began to focus on Wayne County auctions and eventually Land Bank foreclosed homes. GCM has purchased, boarded up, and renovated blighted properties in District 4 for community use. It currently holds properties in each of the three MECCA neighborhoods.
With a passion to provide healthy food options to the community since her childhood, LeJuan has been a full time volunteer with Feed Your Neighborhood, LLC since 2014. Through partnerships with the Jermaine Jackson Community Center, Aldi Foods, Gleaners, Forgotten Harvest, and Brilliant Detroit MorningSide program every Tuesday, Feed Your Neighborhood provides free food, PPE, and household goods to 100 families at Peace Lutheran Church, 15700 East Warren. LeJuan personally delivers over 100,000 pounds of meat, pantry items and fresh produce each year for the food pantry.
A master gardener and lifelong vegetarian, LeJuan also volunteers with “My Father’s Garden,” a farm-to-table community garden located on Balfour and East Warren, provided through a partnership with Peace Lutheran Church and Feed Your Neighborhood.
After the devastating flooding last June, Feed Your Neighborhood quickly shifted to helping residents recover from the flood by assisting with clean up, providing cleaning items, gloves, and bags, and helping residents complete claim forms through Great Lake Water Authority (GLWA), DWSD, and FEMA. They also advocated for residents to gain an equitable share of community resources to replace emergency items. LeJuan, along with other concerned residents, formed a Community Task Force to keep neighbors informed and uplifted.
It’s no wonder that residents and community leaders know LeJuan as a “Community Queen” for advocating and working hard in the neighborhood.
To keep up to date on all the programming through MECCA, check our website at: https://www.meccadc.org/.