MISSION
Serve with care
Provide culturally sensitive and inclusive programs and services that foster friendship, support, and empowerment.
About AFC
Rooted in community. Building toward permanence.
AFC is a board-led community organization restoring a cultural hub for Native individuals and families in the Greater Lansing area. The Anishinaabe Friendship Center is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Our History
Responding to a community need.
Following the closure of the Woodlands American Indian Center in 1999, a vital cultural and community gathering place was lost. The Anishinaabe Friendship Center was created to help restore that hub and renew opportunities for connection, culture, and support.
Today, AFC hosts traditional Indigenous events in Lansing, including Dance by the River Powwow and the Winter Round Dance. These gatherings foster cultural revitalization, strengthen community relationships, and promote wellness.
AFC is guided by a community board and strengthened by volunteers, sponsors, partners, families, and neighbors who share a commitment to a thriving future.
What Guides Us
Community at the center.
Our work grows from relationships, respect, inclusion, and the understanding that lasting programs need a lasting home.
LEADERSHIP
Board-led
Community leadership guides AFC’s priorities, partnerships, events, and long-term organizational development.
VISION
Build for the future
Establish a permanent Friendship Center in Lansing that can serve the community throughout the year.
Leadership
Board leadership rooted in community.
AFC’s work is guided by community leaders committed to culture, connection, and a permanent Native Community Center in Lansing.
Founder & Chairperson
Aja Wheatley-Medwayosh Washington
My name is Aja Wheatley-Medwayosh Washington. My Anishinaabe nooswin is Waabishkaa Gimiiwaan Kwe. I am Anishinaabe, Wasauksing First Nation, Bear Clan, Ojibwe-Bodewadmi, and I was born and raised in Lansing, Michigan.
I carry the teachings, strength, and resilience of those who came before me. My connection to my people, our culture, our land, and Nibi is a responsibility I carry every day.
As Founder and Chairperson of the Anishinaabe Friendship Center, I work to create space for our community to gather, learn, heal, celebrate, and be heard. I believe our voices matter, our stories matter, and our presence matters. I am committed to protecting our waters and lands, uplifting Indigenous voices, strengthening our community, and carrying our teachings forward for the generations yet to come.
I do this work because I believe we have a responsibility to those who came before us and to those who will follow. I carry that responsibility with love, conviction, and purpose.
President & Co-Chair
Jessica Chingman-Roosa
My name is Jessica Chingman-Roosa. I am Anishinaabe, an Odawa citizen of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, and I was born and raised in Lansing, Michigan. My family and ancestral roots run deeply through this region, connecting me to generations of Anishinaabe people whose strength, language, stories, and connection to our homelands continue to shape who I am.
Growing up as an urban Native person in Lansing taught me the importance of having spaces where our people can simply belong. I also know what it means for a community to lose those spaces, and how much can be lost between generations when culture, language, and connection become harder to reach.
As President and Co-Chair of the Anishinaabe Friendship Center, I believe deeply in creating the kind of community our children and grandchildren deserve to inherit. A place where our culture and language are living, where our elders and youth know one another, where our people can gather and celebrate, and where being Native isn't something that has to be explained before you can belong.
For me, this work is about more than rebuilding a physical space. It is about honoring the generations who kept our community connected even when there wasn't a building to call home, while making sure the generations coming behind us inherit something strong enough to carry forward.
The Future Center
More room for what comes next.
A permanent home will make it possible to grow stable, consistent opportunities for people of all ages.
Cultural programming
Gatherings, teachings, and opportunities that support cultural connection.
Education
Workshops, learning opportunities, and community knowledge sharing.
Youth engagement
Welcoming spaces for young people to learn, participate, and build relationships.
Community connection
A dependable place for support, partnership, wellness, and friendship.
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