Women of Warren envision a new city

WARREN — In keeping with Women’s History Month, the Women of Warren shared their vision board for the city at the March 26 City Council meeting.

A vision board is a collection of pictures that exemplify the goals and the desires of those who created it. The presentation included the group’s goals for Warren: diversity and inclusion, economic prosperity, education, building community, and a revitalized downtown that is walkable and uniquely reflective of Warren.

“We also want to bring other cultures, nationalities and diversity into the city,” said Rebecca Zainos, one of the group’s board members, as she explained its view of inclusion. “We want to expand our horizons outside the box.”

Many neighboring communities have walkable downtowns, but Warren residents want its downtown to exemplify their community, according to Rochelle Kelley, the group’s treasurer.

“We don’t want to make a new Royal Oak or a new Ferndale. We want to make a downtown Warren, where people from Royal Oak, Ferndale and Birmingham, (who) have their quaint downtowns that everybody enjoys visiting, (we) want them to come here and visit us,” Rochelle Kelley said. “I know they have been working on a downtown for a long time, but without the help of the community, that downtown can’t be.”

The Women of Warren do a vision board every year at the beginning of the year.

“To set the tone and envision the future we want for the year going forward,” said Alex Kelley, the group’s graphic designer and a member of its communications team.  “This is central to our mission because it is thinking of ways we can improve ourselves and therefore the community.”

Women of Warren Vice President Heather Zielinski further explained the importance of their vision board.

“As women we have to be able to explain to the city what we need from them and the way to do that is by visualizing our needs,” Zielinski said. “That way, they have a decision to make about how they are going to help us achieve the goals we need to raise our families in the city of Warren.”

Zielinski continued, “I think it is very important to be able to have that (the vision board) to look forward and set your goals and to then look backwards and to say, ‘I have achieved all of these things.’”

According to its members, the Women of Warren is open to any woman who is a Warren resident.

“For me it’s about empowering and uplifting, and the energy when this group of women get together is just dynamic and so supportive,” said Monica Papasian.

Papasian, who has been a member since the group’s inception three years ago, has been bringing her now 9-year-old daughter Olive to the meetings.

“She (Olive) gives great ideas,” Zainos said.

“The Pajama Jam event that we did last year was Olive’s idea,” said Rochelle Kelley.

“It was wildly successful,” Alex Kelley said.

The group celebrated its one-year anniversary as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in January and talked about starting a Junior Women of Warren for young girls but has no immediate plans to do so.