LANSING, Mich. — It’s been less than three months since the nonprofit Advancement Corporation moved into the former Otto Middle School, and already, they’re dealing with a vandalism issue that will set them back thousands of dollars.
“From paint on the floors, more reinforced glass, they emptied all of the fire extinguishers, so a lot of damage,” said Advancement Corporation Founder Derrick Knox.
The suspects also left profane messages in paint.
Lansing Police Department officers said they arrived to the location around 9:35 p.m. Monday, but they were unable to arrest any suspects due to security cameras being destroyed.
“They yanked out the wiring to the security cameras and IT equipment,” Knox said.
The Advancement Corporation moved into the former C. W. Otto Middle School building in May to provide resources like mental health, mentoring, career training and more to marginalized groups.
The nonprofit organization spent well over $600,000 to move their resources into the building, and now, they have to spend around $90,000 to repair the damages from the vandalism.
“This has pushed up back a lot in projects we had planned for the center,” Knox said.
“This really sad,” said Advancement Corporation Vice President LaShawn Erby. “But we will make something beautiful out of this tragedy.”
Despite the hardship that comes along with repairing damages, some community members said they will help Advancement Corporation overcome this.
“It’s okay, we’re going to help get it cleaned and back to normal,” said resident Azhanae Ailing.
If you would like to donate to the Advancement Corporation, click here.
