Turning lived experience into leadership — and community trust into community strategy.
PowerPiece Enterprises (PPE) is a Ypsilanti-based organization serving youth and young adults ages 10–24 across Washtenaw County's 48197 and 48198 communities.
Built by the community, for the community.
PowerPiece Enterprises was founded by DaRon Weatherspoon, Sr. — a Ypsilanti native whose life work grew directly out of the streets, schools, and neighborhoods he now serves. PPE exists because someone who has walked the road can build the bridge others need to cross it.
Lived experience is the foundation of trust — and trust is the foundation of every meaningful program we run. That's what allows PPE to reach young people other institutions can't, and it's what makes our work impossible to replicate from the outside.
We focus where the need is greatest — so every other young person can be reached by someone else.
- 01Exposure to street-level violence
- 02Extreme poverty
- 03Loss of an influential person
- 04Incarceration exposure (self or family)
- 05Physical trauma
- 06Racial marginalization
Four aims that shape every program we run.
Every PPE initiative — from mentorship to civic engagement — is built around these four goals.
Empower Participants through Skill Development
Marketable, practical skills that open doors to independence and opportunity.
Reduce Circumstantial Challenges
Address systemic barriers that block stability and forward momentum.
Cultivate Community Engagement and Leadership
Civic pride, accountability, and leadership built through collaborative programming.
Promote Holistic Well-Being
Mental, social, and professional health for every young person we serve.
The structure behind the outcomes.
Educational Impact
Critical thinking, literacy, and academic support that expands what's possible.
Behavioral Impact
Emotional regulation, conflict resolution, and habits that unlock growth.
Community Impact
Service, civic pride, and neighborhood investment that outlast any single program.
Leadership Development
Voice, agency, and executive-level exposure — young people leading in real rooms.
Four programs. One throughline — meeting young people where they are.
Power Movin'
Work with clients to help them get drivers licenses while developing social emotional skills.
Literary Legends
A phased self-knowledge and civic-connection curriculum — from foundational life skills to direct relationships with civic leaders shaping the community.
Thought Vault
A space for reflection, ideation, and creative expression — where young people build the mental models and voice they'll carry into every room they enter.
Let's Go to Work
A program designed to help community members find jobs and secure jobs and provides secure transportation to and from work.
Real roles. Real ventures. Real proof.
PPE Youth Executive Board
A working board of young people making real decisions about programs, partnerships, and priorities. They meet, they vote, they build.
A youth-launched clothing brand — designed, branded, and taken to market by board members.
Next Gen Youth Club
For young adults stepping into professional life — a peer network paired with adult mentors, focused on turning ideas into revenue and stability.
A youth-designed daycare concept moving from proposal to reality.
PPE Gets Kids in the Room.
We use our deep community connections to recruit youth from neighborhoods that are too often overlooked, engage them through our own programming, and connect them to organizations that have the structure to serve them — but not the reach to find them.
PPE Grassroots Connect is the consulting practice built on this capability. Local governments, health systems, researchers, and nonprofits partner with PPE because we take the time to understand their goals — then design and execute the outreach strategy to achieve them.
Mass Messaging & Information Campaigns
Community Surveying & Needs Assessments
Event Turnout & Mobilization
On-the-Ground Resident Feedback
There's a place for you here.
Partner. Volunteer. Donate. Refer a young person. Every relationship is a piece of the work.
Ypsilanti, MI 48198
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