The Kettering Foundation’s Dayton Democracy Fellowship is a program that supports innovative leaders, changemakers, and dreamers who are building movements for inclusive democracy in their communities and in our wider world. This series of articles about the Dayton Democracy Fellows highlights their robust work and the powerful narratives that drive the advancement and defense of democracy. 

To hear Dayton Democracy Fellow Robbie Brandon tell it, she’s spent a lifetime doing a little bit of everything. As founder of Dayton’s Sunlight Village, a faith-based nonprofit, she marshals the same energy for good that helped her go from being a single mom of three working part-time at a restaurant to becoming a registered nurse. But when she started working as a psychiatric nurse, her eyes were opened to an area—mental health—where she saw the greatest need.

“It seemed like anybody who was [physically] sick, if they weren’t mentally healthy, they weren’t healing well,” said Brandon. She got a job working with the Montgomery County Juvenile Court and kept seeing young people in the system with unaddressed mental health needs.

“I was like, ‘We’ve got to do better,’” she said. Brandon wanted especially to serve her beloved West Dayton, where she grew up when it was a bustling neighborhood “with access to fresh food or something beneficial to the community on every corner, barbershops, and . . . there was so much to do.” As she saw the neighborhood struggle with housing, economic, and health disparities, she wanted to help bring the area back.

So nearly 20 years ago, she founded Sunlight Village to provide more education and awareness about mental health in the community, with support groups, training, and connecting people to providers they needed, but often couldn’t find. She started small, partnering with professionals and giving workshops and training in area public libraries. Eventually, the organization was able to open a small clinic. As community needs grew, services ballooned. Clinical services ended in 2022, but plans are in the works to offer mental health services once again.

Recently, in partnership with Phillips Temple CME Church, Sunlight Village is renovating a large new facility in West Dayton to provide a range of services, including mental health, wellness programs, and youth services alongside other community services offered by partner organizations. “By working with partners, we don’t have to do it all,” Brandon said. Dubbed the Village Hub, the 21,000-square-foot facility will expand the work and reach of Sunlight Village. The building will host everything from classes for homeschooled students and Tai Chi for senior citizens to literacy services.

Brandon sees her work as critical to building trust. With trust comes opportunities to expand democracy and make it more responsive. The organization folds in ideas about democracy with its services, she said.

“To me, democracy is giving voice to the people. When you’re underserved, with a low-income, are impoverished, or struggling with life itself, you kind of put yourself in this bubble because your life is the focus, right? So if we can lift some of those burdens, then also educate and bring awareness to social issues and tell people that they can make a difference, they can make a change,” Brandon said. “In our work we’re constantly giving voice to the people. Even the kids have a new podcast that they want to start called We’re Up Next.”

Brandon said she looks forward to working with other Dayton Democracy Fellows for more ideas on improving West Dayton and giving the people a stronger voice in democracy. Already, she sees progress. Dayton Children’s Hospital is building a pediatric urgent care clinic in the area that is slated to open next year. The Boys and Girls Club of Dayton will soon begin demolishing its old building with plans to build a new club on the same site. New housing is being built. Brandon and her team at Sunlight Village are thankful for being a part of it all.

“We’re here as a collective to really make some sustainable change. And that’s the part that’s exciting to me. It’s not going to happen overnight, but it’s surely happening right now,” Brandon said.

Maura Casey is a former editorial writer for the New York Times and has worked with the Kettering Foundation since 2010.