From 2012: Joan Nelson named Greater Lansing Woman magazine's Woman of the Year

Originally published in May 2012

Joan Nelson's energy is contagious. And it's visible all over Lansing's east side.

A busy farmers market.

A blooming greenhouse in Hunter Park.

A bunch of senior citizens chatting over birthday cake in the Allen Neighborhood Center.

The spirited 63-year-old with piercing blue eyes and an unflagging energy has lived in Lansing for nearly four decades.

As a co-founder and director of the Allen Neighborhood Center, Nelson is a driving force behind community improvements on the east side. The farmers market, greenhouse and senior programs are just a few of the myriad initiatives Nelson leads.

Nelson has made an effort to keep the entire neighborhood involved, says Hollie Hamel, director of the farmers market. It was the first farmers market in the state to accept Bridge cards; now many others do the same.

"Her sense of what Allen Neighborhood Center is here for, and what we continue to do, and how to stay connected to the very real part of the city that we are sitting in, it has been a true pleasure to be part of that," Hamel says. "She just has this great sense of, 'We can do it.'"

Many eastside residents don't have easy access to fresh groceries. The farmers market is part of the center's original mission to deal with the food desert issue. It's a vibrant reflection of the neighborhood's diversity in age, ethnicity and economics.

The center worked with Lansing's Parks and Recreation Department to land a $100,000 "Cool Cities" grant to build a community greenhouse and half-mile walking path in Hunter Park. The greenhouse opened in 2008. It offers urban gardening classes to teach kids how to raise their own healthy food and classes for seniors, too.

"She's able to attract really talented people and young people," Melanie Mack says. "She takes great people and makes them greater."

And Nelson is always looking forward.

Her latest project is a new Food Resource Center. It will include a commercial kitchen for food entrepreneurs and production of a signature eastside product and temperature-controlled food storage bins. It also will offer a way to expand the Wednesday market indoors. That's funded with a grants from the Capital Region Community Foundation and Michigan State Housing Development Authority.

"It's always a treat to work with her because she is so innovative," says Corie Jason, an Allen Neighborhood Center board member. "She takes these ideas and intuitively understands from a neighborhood perspective how we can help make things better. Whether it's an issue or a problem, it's neighbors first."

Nelson graduated from Michigan State University in 1971. She was involved in feminist and anti-war efforts in school. Afterward, she began as a community organizer with the Lansing Model Cities program, a federal effort to cut urban poverty.

"That was my first job and it really set a pattern (of) involvement in social causes," Nelson says.

She was involved in the creation of Eve's House, the first local shelter for battered women. Nelson also ran a martial arts business and later she worked as a consultant, offering personal safety workshops around the Great Lakes.

"The thread has always been about community improvement and creating a healthier, more nurturing community," she says.

Nelson was approached in 1996 to facilitate the Eastside Summit, a joint venture of Sparrow Health System and the Eastside Neighborhood Organization. It focused on improving health, housing and population stability on the east side.

It inspired Nelson to found the Allen Neighborhood Center in 1999 with help from Ingham County Health Department grants.

The nonprofit community development agency has been expanding its work ever since. Its core demographic is an area that includes the entire 48912 ZIP code, but its impact can be felt throughout the entire Greater Lansing area.

Nelson says she's dedicated to Lansing, especially the east side, for many reasons.

"It is a generally engaged, optimistic and connected community," she says. "This is not a place with a heavy, heavy cloud hanging over it. It makes doing community development work really a pleasure when folks are really interested in getting involved and jumping on board the next fun thing to improve the neighborhood."

Nelson says she ventured out when she was younger, traveling the country and even living in the Florida Keys for a bit. But Lansing's east side, situated smack dab between Michigan State University and the Capitol, had the Goldilocks effect on her.

"It's just the right size," she says. "It's not so small that everybody knows your business. But it's small enough so that you can pretty easily access the people and the resources that you need."

Nelson shrugs off praise for the organization's success, always mentioning the dedicated staff and volunteers. But it's plain to see her tireless work ethic and compassion are the engine of the east side.

"It's not about her," Mack says. "It's always about empowering other people. It's never about a handout and always a hand up."

A Michigan native, Nelson was born and raised in Bay City. Her parents were deeply involved in their community and church. Her father built a township recreation program from scratch. Her mother was president of the Parent-Teacher Association. One of her earlier memories is distributing fliers around the neighborhood with her father.

"It wasn't so much political (as) civically engaged," she says. "They were salt-of-the-earth folks. It wasn't a big deal to them. Being engaged, it was just what you did."

She has one son, Peter, a 21-year-old Eastern High School grad who studies jazz at MSU and is in a band.

"At every point, I thought, 'This is it, this is the best,'" she says of raising Peter.

Nelson says she doesn't plan to direct the center forever. She's planning about four more years at the helm. But she's not worried about the neighborhood's future.

The seeds of improvement are planted. And Nelson has trained her gardeners well.

"If I have any practical skill, it is in selecting great folks who work here," she says.

– Kathleen Lavey contributed to this story

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: From the archives: Joan Nelson named GLW's Woman of the Year in 2012