We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Robert Ennis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Robert below.
Robert, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.
At Ennis Center we provide an array of services to abused and neglected youth. From foster care and adoption services to art therapy and counseling, it is our mission to preserve families when possible and create new ones when necessary.
Robert, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I founded Ennis Center for Children in Flint, MI in 1978 with the purpose of finding homes in the community for the hardest to place youth in order to keep them out of residential placement. Today we have offices in Flint, Detroit, Pontiac, Port Huron, Saginaw, Howell, and Monroe, and we provide services in several other counties. The need for foster parents continues to grow and if you or anyone you know is interested in learning more about fostering, I urge you to contact one of our offices. Ennis Center is a non-profit and we rely heavily on the support of our community. We have partnered with area UAW offices who donate space for holiday youth parties. We have church groups who knit hats and scarves for our youth. We have major donors who help fund programs and we have retirees who send us a check every month. It all counts and it all helps us care for underserved youth and families. I am extremely proud of the work we do at Ennis and I cannot say enough good things about the people who work here who pour their hearts into what they do. They work long hours, they push a lot of paper, they deal with unhappy clients, and they do it all without nearly enough gratitude or recognition for the care and love they put in to what they do. Foster Care is a tough, tough job. Ennis Center staff are my hero’s.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
I often tell this story and she always says I have thanked her enough. Her name is Carol and I don’t think a million thanks will ever be enough. She believed in me and what I wanted to do. She gave me a loan of $6,000 to start Ennis Center. I know it doesn’t sound like much today but it was a ton of money in the 70’s. It was a ton of money to me! I paid her back, of course, but I don’t think I was ever able to fully express to her what it meant to me that she believed in me. Thank you, Carol, one more time!
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I am a Social Worker. I got my Bachelor degree in social work from MSU and my Master degree in social work from U of M. It took me a long time to learn to make decisions from a business perspective and not as a Social Worker. This was hard for me. Social work is basically advocacy and I want to advocate for my employees at every turn. If someone is late everyday, for example, I want to talk to them and find out why. Is it because they are having issues with their childcare? Are they feeling depressed? I had to unlearn this tactic as Ennis Center got bigger and bigger. I had to learn that having the same expectations for every member of the team was the only fair way to run a business.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.enniscenter.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ennis_center_for_children/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EnnisCenter/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/enniscenterforchildren
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/enniscenter
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClyQer_Nd68Ve-WQ_7q48FQ
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/ennis-center-for-children-flint