The Amplify team's goal is to connect people living in Michigan with the resources and information they need to thrive. Our reporting, how-to guides, and community events will help you become your own best advocate on basic needs like housing, public safety, health and more.
Recent Stories
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As data centers proliferate across the Great Lakes, driven by AI’s soaring demands, communities face a dual reality: economic growth and environmental challenges.
Beenish Ahmed
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Michigan Public
South Lyon Community Schools
Helpful Guides
Get resources on a range of topics from housing needs, due process rights, and more.
Michigan schools are asking voters for sinking funds. What are those?
Michigan school districts are putting taxes for sinking funds on ballots this November. Voters, use this guide to understand how these funds work.
How to get the new COVID shot in Michigan this fall
If you're under 65 and healthy, you're going to have to attest to having an underlying medical condition (like pregnancy, obesity, or a mental health condition) that would qualify you as "high risk."
How to get the best deal on homeowners insurance in Detroit
It’s true that Detroit has some of the highest insurance premiums in the state — far above suburban rates — and that’s unlikely to change without regulatory action. But there are still strategies Detroiters can use to lower coverage costs.
Travel and legal tips for green card and visa holders
What to know about assessing your risk and protecting yourself as the Trump administration ratchets up immigration enforcement.
Todos tenemos derechos. Cómo manejar un encuentro con ICE.
Una semana después de la toma de posesión del presidente Donald Trump, muchos de los peores temores sobre deportaciones masivas aún no se han materializado. Sin embargo, la propagación de rumores deja claro que muchas personas en Michigan se encuentran en máxima alerta.
Everyone has rights. How to handle encounters with immigration enforcement.
A week into Donald Trump's presidency, mass immigration raids have yet to materialize in Michigan, but fears are growing. Here's what to know if you encounter immigration enforcement agents.
Got a school bond, sinking fund, or millage on your November ballot? This guide can help.
Dozens of Michigan communities are voting on school funding. This guide can help you figure out the school bond, sinking fund or millage question on your November ballot.
Can you cuss at cops? Know your rights when interacting with police
It is legal to speak your mind, advocate for yourself or record police activity in most circumstances. Still, attorneys and a former law enforcement officer say there’s no guarantee your rights will be respected in the moment — or that it’s always safe to exercise them.
You can’t recycle that… right? Find places in Michigan that take pizza boxes, foil and more
Does recycling feel messy and confusing to you? You're not alone. We've made a map and searchable database of Michigan recycling programs to help you navigate the do's and don'ts of recycling in your area.
See someone in crisis? You don't have to call the police. Here are alternatives.
Following the police killing of a young man with schizophrenia several months ago, Michigan Radio collected resources to find support for people in mental health crisis.
More from the Amplify Team
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The agency that’s overseen foster care cases in Kent County for most of the past decade is suing the state health department for eliminating its funding, while judges that oversee child abuse and neglect cases in the county called the lack of transition planning a “child welfare emergency.” -
When the last clinic offering abortion in the Upper Peninsula closed, a local urgent care started offering abortion pills to help fill the gap. Now it could be a national model for a new kind of abortion access. -
Through workshops and discussions, Congregation T’chiyah in Ferndale has been grappling with their views of Israel, with many coming to disavow the version of Zionism they once held sacrosanct. -
This is the first update to Michigan’s health education standards since 2007, and people who spoke against it were most concerned with standards on gender identity for students in grades 6-8. But state officials said parents can still opt their children out of the lessons. -
Many of the nearly 100 students at Davis Aerospace last year said the bicycles helped them safely get to school by reducing the amount of time they had to walk to school or wait for buses. -
The previous House budget would have cut Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy by 19%, while the adopted budget reduces the agency’s funding by 7%. -
Wayne County owes thousands of Detroiters money after unconstitutionally profiting from their foreclosures. But so far, only about 7% of those former homeowners have a shot at getting what they’re owed. -
Semitrucks roar down Lonyo at all hours, barreling between I-94 and a sprawling complex of truck yards that sandwich this neighborhood. The trucks could take a slightly longer route to the freeway but they don’t because they don’t have to. -
A series of Michigan Supreme Court rulings are giving people convicted of murder as young adults the chance at resentencing, sparking hope for some and fear for others. -
State Superintendent Michael Rice is urging Michigan school districts to continue offering free school meals at the start of the school year, despite uncertainty about whether the state will provide funding for the meals program.
Amplify Events
The Amplify Team often holds events related to the stories they report in the communities that are affected by those stories. See photos from some of these events below:
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— Jail's True Cost 1
Community Engagement Reporter Jamie Simmons speaks at the Jail's True Cost event (2022).
Jodi Westrick / Michigan Radio
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— Jail's True Cost 2
Attendees look at art by prisoners at the Jail's True Cost event (2022).
Jodi Westrick / Michigan Radio
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— Jail's True Cost 3
Handouts and informative flyers at the Jail's True Cost event (2022).
Jodi Westrick / Michigan Radio
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— Jail's True Cost 4
Attendees had the opportunity to hear from prisoners in this interactive display at Jail's True Cost (2022).
Jodi Westrick / Michigan Radio
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— Housing Forum 1
Data reporter Nisa Khan at the Housing Forum (2022).
Lindsey Smith / Michigan Radio
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— Housing Forum 2
Kids are welcome at most Enterprise events. Here, reporter Lindsey Smith teaches a young attendee to use a recorder.
Lindsey Smith / Michigan Radio
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— Housing Forum
Community Engagement Reporter Jamie Simmons speaks at the Housing Forum (2022).
Lindsey Smith / Michigan Radio
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— Housing Forum 3
A panel of local experts speaks about the housing crisis in Detroit and give resources for residents.
Lindsey Smith / Michigan Radio
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— Housing Forum 5
Attendees at the Enterprise Housing Forum (2022).
Lindsey Smith / Michigan Radio
Meet Our Team
