Kisha Emanuel Durrell

Kisha Emanuel Durrell has been a volunteer for most of her life. A community activist since she was 16, she has helped countless men and women in her community overcome hardship.

“I had to overcome some hurdles of my own,” says Durrell, “but I knew that if I could make it so could countless people who might feel like I did.”

 For the last 11 years, Durrell has been volunteering with Women in Touch, a Detroit-based nonprofit that helps women and children of domestic violence, homelessness and substance abuse by addressing the emotional, social, vocational, educational, health-related and developmental needs of individuals in order to increase self-esteem, and increase the ability to make informed decisions and solve problems.

 Every year, Durrell engages more than 2,000 women and 400 youth. These women have been able to rejoin the workforce and reunite with their children who were placed into foster homes. Many of these women have gone back to school and become solid role models for others in their lives.

“When the need is in my path I will try to meet it,” says Durrell, who humbly acknowledges that she couldn’t do the work without a solid support system, “I have friends and family that support my endeavors. They stand by me in all I do.”