An Air Force veteran is building a youth hub on Detroit's east side

A new youth organization on Detroit's east side made its public debut this spring with a community basketball game, the first sign of a project a returning veteran has been planning since before he moved home.

Damon Williams spent 21 years in the United States Air Force. He and his wife, Jasmine, left Florida and returned to his native east side neighborhood, the place he says stayed on his mind through his years in the service. The idea he brought back is called Outside the Box, or OTB, a hub meant to connect Detroit teenagers with the programs and resources the city already offers but that are hard to find without a guide. OTB is set to open at 15725 East Warren for the start of the 2026-27 school year.

Williams describes the model as a one-stop shop for young people, with partner organizations supplying the pieces and the teenagers who pass through leaving more prepared for adulthood. "A place where fun draws them in, and growth sends them out," he told Model D Media.

The introduction came through the Outside the Box Community Basketball Event, held Saturday, May 2, at East English Village Preparatory Academy, the school known as The Ville and Williams's alma mater when it operated as Finney High School. The listing for the event names "Outside the box youth center" as the organizer. Originally planned as a softball game, it was moved to the gym after Michigan weather did not cooperate. Teams mixed police officers, firefighters, local entrepreneurs, and neighborhood teenagers.

Proceeds went toward a trip: the event raised enough to send 30 children to Cedar Point, with spots awarded to students based on academic achievement, community engagement, and other criteria.

One of the celebrity coaches was Ebony Cochran, founder of the Detroit Wealth Club and a childhood friend of Williams. The Detroit Wealth Club is a District 4 nonprofit that teaches personal and business credit, real estate, homeownership, estate planning, and small-business basics, work Cochran built after years of debt counseling under the name The Debt Survivor. The club is lined up as an OTB partner, extending its financial-education services to teenagers at no cost.

The event T-shirts came from The Taylor Made Brand, the apparel company Joe Taylor founded in 2017 and runs from a spot on East Warren just up the street from where OTB will open. The brand bills itself as a self-confidence label built around the motto "LEGENDARY."

Williams has been back on the east side for two years. With its first public event behind it and its first partner in place, Outside the Box now has a storefront and an opening date to work toward.