Marie Gress for City Council
LMSW-Macro, CFRM
Milan, Michigan
I’m Marie Gress — a proud Milan resident since 2016. With a career rooted in public service and a passion for local representation and leadership, I’m running for City Council to help support a government to be transparent, responsive, and centered on the people it serves. From older adult services to public transportation, I’ve worked across sectors to deliver real results — and now I’m ready to bring that same energy and accountability home to Milan.
Platform
Relationships matter! Progress on building more positive relationships with funders, contractors, and neighbors brings more opportunities to our doorstep.
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I first came to Milan in 2014 to work for Milan Seniors for Healthy Living, I very quickly fell in love with the small town. My husband, Evan, and I built a house in Meadowbrook in 2016 and having our one in only kiddo, Lennox, in 2017. During that time we also helped launch Fieldstone Church, Lennox was actually the first baby!
I started freelance grant writing for other community-based non-profits, including Compassion Ministry of Milan and Aid in Milan, Inc.. During Covid, I rented out the Old Fire Barn to leaned into my Kovir LLC consulting work full time - grant writing, program development, evaluation, strategic planning, and overall non-profit management. I started teaching at Eastern Michigan University's School of Social Work MSW & BSW programs, University of Michigan's School of Social Work, was appointed to Washtenaw County's first Commission on Aging, and asked to chair the Washtenaw County Healthy Aging Collaborative.
Along the way, my team and I worked with Goodwill of Delaware to win a 10 million federal earmark for workforce development, worked with the Dexter Senior Center to win a 8 million state earmark to build a new senior center, and the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners for $4.5 million in ARPA appropriations for aging services, approve a .5 mil older persons millag e, and create an office on aging. I worked with AAA 1-B to write the Oakland County Blueprint for Healthy Aging White Paper as well as edited down and designed the Final Deliverable. I was a stakeholder in the development of the AAACF Strategic Plan for Aging Services in Washtenaw County.
While I still consult on the side, my day job since April 2023 has been executive director of the Western-Washtenaw Area Value Express, a public transportation non-profit, where I collaborate with local townships and municipalities on a regular basis, raised $500,000 in new dollars in 2024, and doubled ridership with minimal cost increases - driving the cost per rider, per mile, and per hour down. In addition, I sit on the rural transit task force, small urban funds, and represent seniors on the Washtenaw Area Transportation Study.
Currently, I chair the Washtenaw County Commission on Aging and chair the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation's Glacier Hills Legacy Fund. Recently, I was able to support the City/MSHL contract negotiations and was invited to speak to Milan City Council on March 4 on the basics of public transportation funding. Even more recently, my friends and I enjoyed the Wine Walk.
My peers have called me a relationship builder, intellectually curious, quick learner, calm, informative, a problem solver, and a supportive leader.