LANSING, Mich. — When Kelly Adams first met Dr. Eleanore Kue she says was trying to hold everything together.
Four kids.
A lot of uncertainty.
And a life that felt like it was slipping out from under her.
"When Dr. Kue met me, I was not doing so well stability wise. I was in between jobs, not having the best transportation, and she's been helping me with finding resources and different jobs and things like that to help me better my life and my children's life."
Dr. Kue helped Kelly start finding her footing again.
Helping connect her with resources in the community…
things like jobs, childcare, and support systems families sometimes struggle to find on their own.
But Kelly says the help did not stop there.
"So she also helped me spiritually, finding a church." She says she needed that kind of support more than ever. "I had just lost my job when she came in, and that was just a very difficult time. I couldn't find childcare separation with my children's father, and yeah, she basically helped me when I was broken."
Today, Kelly says things are already moving in the right direction.
Stories like Kelly’s are exactly why Dr. Kue helped launch the 100 Families Initiative.
It connects struggling families with advocates and community partners who help them tackle the biggest challenges in their lives — things like housing, jobs, childcare, and mental health support.
Organizations work together so families aren’t trying to solve those problems alone. But for Dr. Kue, this work is personal.
“I was called to care. I think, as a citizen, we are, therefore we should be there for our neighbors. I have in my life, in my own story, I've gone through serious challenges in I have had people who came alongside of me and helped me. So I really feel it now it's my turn.”
Years ago, when Dr. Kue first came to the United States from Cameroon she was pregnant with her first child.
She didn’t speak English.
And she needed to find the hospital.
A stranger stepped in.
"She literally held my hands, took me into the bus, made all the changes that I needed to do, took me to the hospital… and then when we got to the hospital she waved me goodbye."
A moment of kindness…
from someone she never saw again.
But it stayed with her.
"And I want to be that lady for the people in my community."
Today, through the 100 Families Initiative, Dr. Kue and her partners have already helped more than 150 families move toward stability.
But for her…
the numbers are not the story.
The people are.
"Kelly is one of my successful stories… I'm really impressed and amazed to see how much God has done in her life."
Sometimes changing a community doesn’t start with a big program.
Sometimes it starts with one person deciding to care about the neighbor standing right in front of them.
Dr. Eleanor Kue, Congratulations you are this week’s Good Neighbor
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