The Fledge
Content warning: references to/ descriptions of bias (classism, homophobia, racism, etc) and imagery/ references to drugs and drug use.
Description
“The Fledge” follows the process of the organization through stories from its founder, Jerry Norris, and its community members. The piece highlights the issues in our communities that The Fledge seeks to address. Hopefully, the piece leaves viewers feeling inspired and motivated to continue engaging with challenges in the community and systems we all function within.
About the Artist
Elena Forman is a third-year MSU student studying Digital Storytelling and the Arts and Humanities. She has worked as a research intern, videographer, and photographer for organizations such as RioChante Cultural Center and Voice of Dageretti, as well as a director and choreographer for community children’s theater.
Jerry Norris is the CEO and Founder of the Fledge located in Lansing MI, a radically inclusive ideation and maker space, incubator, and accelerator. He also serves as the Chairman for the GAIA Solutions, and the Fledge Music Group. Jerry obtained a B.S. in Statistics from the University of Michigan, with a focus on Computer Science. He spent 5 years as a “Gatekeeper” for the Business Acceleration Fund working with the Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP) and has a deep understanding of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and the community at
large.
Reflection
In 2021, I found a compassionate home within poetry. Parts of life, even in general, the way each person has to move through life is hard, sometimes incomprehensible and indigestible. Poetry for the past four years has been my intestines, my heart, my stomach. Poetry has become my way to digest my emotions and bring understanding to my personal experiences. Before poetry, I had a centered background in journalistic and professional writing. Through this new mode, I could heal from things I didn’t know were breaking me down. I developed my love for creativity again after I first met Jerry Norris when he came to speak at a housing justice event I attended. He was so raw and emotional (as well as intelligent and well-informed) that I couldn’t help thinking he would be a great center of focus for a short film. I researched his organization and realized the wide range of potential for a documentary. I emailed Jerry and he got back to me within a day, excited about the prospect and ready to meet with me. With so many branches of the Fledge, narrowing our focus became the most tricky aspect of the process.
Throughout this process I learned so much about the issues within the communities we are apart of and those that surround us. Watching members of the Fledge navigate these challenges and address them in different ways was incredibly inspiring. It allowed me to gain some perspective on the way community members fight daily to better the lives of the people around them. Getting to know the volunteers and workers was invaluable. I learned a lot about what is going on around me that I was previously unaware of. Possibly best of all, I got to experience the joyfully eclectic, artistically chaotic, contemplatively raucous, and passionate existence of The Fledge itself. An organization juggling too much to look at all at once but that is supporting everything you could think of in a community.
This microgrant allowed me to spend extra time experiencing The Fledge and its offerings, researching, and connecting with its members. It also allowed me to funnel resources back into the organization to help support its programs and all that it does for the cities around
it. Receiving this grant has been so exciting and has allowed me to broaden the reach of the final product. I am very grateful.