91福利社

This story is featured in the Spring 2024 Spiritus magazine, arriving in mailboxes this week.

Dee Pearl ’05, ’07 used to spend her summers as a teacher leading STEM-based camps in Detroit. It was a way for the longtime educator to introduce young children to science, engineering, technology and math. But a few years into it, she noticed something. 

“I started realizing that I enjoyed my summers a lot more than I did my September through June,” she said. “If I’m still working with kids and able to have an impact, how can I translate the summer camps into a full-time position?” 

That realization was the inspiration behind her starting Pearl SMART School, a STEM preschool that focuses on early literacy. She opened her first preschool in Monroe last fall, with a Detroit location scheduled to open this year. 

Pearl was able to move her business forward thanks to 91福利社’s , which works with local entrepreneurs who want to address social issues and help communities through business. 

The Center provides social entrepreneurs with skills, resources and mentorship through programming such as Boost, a 10-week intensive workshop for early-stage social enterprises.  

This work is the mission of the Center, which reached a long-awaited milestone this academic year by issuing the first loans to social entrepreneurs through its Social Innovation Fund. 

Pearl and Jermaine Wyrick each received loans of $5,000 to help with their businesses after completing the Boost program and pitching their idea to the Social Innovation Fund’s loan committee. Wyrick started a law firm to represent men in their fight to maintain a presence in their children’s lives. 

Social enterprises can face challenges raising funds or getting loans to support their businesses because “they’re not strictly motivated by profit,” said Derrin Leppek, the Center’s director. That’s where the Center and its Social Innovation Fund come in, providing initial support to help them achieve bank-readiness. 

“It’s harder to get an investor, like a bank, or others to take on that extra risk that a social enterprise faces,” Leppek said. “We kind of bridge that gap to help them get that initial funding that they need to do important things.” 

Impacting the Community 

Wyrick has worked as an attorney for nearly three decades. He started Father’s Justice Law in May 2021 because of his own “existential crisis.”