Friends of Royal Oak Township (FOROT) is an emerging 501c3 social enterprise, with a mission that Friends of Royal Oak Township (FOROT) is a 501c3 with a mission that advocates for healthier, culturally consciousious, self-sufficient communities in greater Detroit and Royal Oak Township, through a managed quarterly schedule of four, community-impactful mission pillars: health and wellness promotion, urban agriculture, cultural promotion and historical preservation. Our programs have included agricultural, healthy cooking demo's, writing competitions, cultural events, open houses, virtual panelsand volunteer opportunities.

HISTORICALLY, what locals call the “Township,” has had a profound sense of Michigander “community,” inherently attached to its’ identity. Parents, teachers, leaders and elders embracing the spirit and legacy of our founders, leaving slavery and the US south for the phenomenon of hope and groundbreaking lives. Demonstrating the validation expressed in the concept which established the high expectations traditionally held for our youth and the community – inspire the lack of a diminished spirit and the extension of the sense of community which gave birth to what is now FOROT – Friends of Royal Oak Township, Inc. FOROT was founded in 2010, and the organization immediately committed a focus on giving back to a community change effort operating from a pop-up event trial, proof of concept premise, becoming more actively involved in the community by 2011, and registering as a non-profit corporation in 2013. We ultimately received recognition as a 501c3 tax-exempt charitable organization in 2014.

Thus, FOROT, surveying a wide range of programs, has contemporaneously grown out of the perpetually evolving needs of Royal Oak Township, and has progressively expanded its reach capacity to Metro Detroit. During our formation, FOROT serves a predominantly African American constituency that includes a large number of low-income families and children not only the needs of the local Township community but also those of adjacent and surrounding communities with underserved populations.

As a public charity, at the forefront of our primary purpose, we place serving communities and individuals particularly in the areas of health disparities, and access to resources. FOROT offers quarterly free or low-cost educational events discussing healthy life skills, urban agricultural, culture exchange, in conjunction with historical preservation programming. Additionally, we focus on community engagement as a process for our community education programs. Our organizational undertaking operates from a holistic approach that spotlights integrity, ethical behavior, humanistic care and concern for others.

We have designed our local efforts and look forward to leading more in-person, hybrid and online events to be facilitated within a cross-programmatic, “Rooted in the Community!” The concept of working collectively drives our efforts humanism and reciprocity in the exchange of knowledge, intergenerational relationships, diverse organizations, government, and business sector.