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Nealmetria Loper
Safe & Just Michigan
Nealmetria Loper, Outreach and Community Engagement Fellow
Nealmetria Loper became a Safe & Just Michigan Community Outreach Fellow in the fall of 2023. She is a Detroit-based mother and community advocate who is working to “save the world from my home.”
Inspired to make both the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan a better place not only for her own children, but the children of all families in Michigan, Nealmetria first became an advocate for her children by becoming a parent leader in their school and community. She then expanded her work to include family nutrition, housing, literacy and other issues facing her community. She is a parent leader of Michigan Feeding Families, a state-run advocacy team that informs policy makers on nutritional issues. In addition, she participates in numerous community organizations and runs her own organization, An Angel is Here, which provides education and services to the community at no cost, such as parent training and child literacy kits.
Nealmetria also works part time as a research assistant for the University of Michigan’s nutritional science program. In that role she transcribes and codes interviews and surveys on how food systems affect families.
During her fellowship at Safe & Just Michigan, she will be working to lower employment barriers to people with a criminal record. She is interested in the mission of SJM because she believes in second chances.
“Who doesn’t want a second chance?” she said. “Having to start over and not be able to be in certain places if you’ve made mistakes — that really resonated with me.”