{"id":3735,"date":"2020-11-12T11:22:07","date_gmt":"2020-11-12T16:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/54.235.7.55\/?post_type=news-items&#038;p=3735"},"modified":"2022-11-05T11:22:19","modified_gmt":"2022-11-05T15:22:19","slug":"meet-the-dancers-alexandria-riley","status":"publish","type":"news-items","link":"https:\/\/lighthousemi.org\/news-items\/meet-the-dancers-alexandria-riley\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Dancers: Alexandria Riley"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"modal-ready\"><p>When choosing music to dance to for this year\u2019s Dancing With the Stars, Alexandria Riley says one song came to mind: Dorinda Clark-Cole\u2019s hit, \u201cI\u2019m Still Here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For Riley, the 2002 gospel track has more meaning in 2020 than ever before.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe song is fitting considering we\u2019re still here despite the pandemic,\u201d she said. Coincidentally, Riley met the Detroit-native singer at a Lighthouse event a few years back.<\/p>\n<p>Riley competed in Dancing with the Stars two years ago and is excited to return. She inspired our audience in 2018 and won the competition.<\/p>\n<p>At just 20 years old, Alexandria was involved in a lifechanging accident. While driving back to U-M Flint, her car was forced into the median on I-75 and flipped four times.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was hanging out of the sunroof for the first three flips,\u201d she said. \u201cOn the fourth, I was thrown from the vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The crash crushed Riley\u2019s ankle and severed the nerves to her foot. Doctors had to amputate her lower leg.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mom had to scramble to get me a [prosthetic] leg,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the obstacles of the accident, her injury, and a long recovery, Riley never gave up. Instead, she took on new challenges, and continues to dance. She\u2019s looking forward to this year\u2019s virtual event.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHomelessness is such a big problem, especially in urban areas, like metro Detroit,\u201d she said. \u201cTo be part of an event with an organization that is at the forefront of the problem was something I couldn\u2019t pass up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Born and raised in Pontiac, Riley serves as the Sales &amp; Development Director at the Genesee County Land Bank Authority. She has sadly lost multiple people to COVID-19 and she\u2019ll be dancing, in part, to honor them as well.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t miss Alexandria\u2019s performance during the 12th annual Dancing With the\u00a0 Stars on Saturday, Nov. 21. Money raised during the virtual event will help provide food, shelter and services to those in need. Learn more at detroitdancing.org.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs hard as the pandemic is for us, it\u2019s that much harder for people who don\u2019t have any resources, who don\u2019t have a roof over their head. How can you follow a stay at home order when you don\u2019t have a home to stay in?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Lighthouse\u2019s South Oakland Shelter program is close to Shere\u2019s heart. For years, she served on the SOS board and her synagogue has housed homeless guests.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s amazing the work SOS does for families and, being on the ground at the synagogue, I\u2019ve gotten to know many of them,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen the Lighthouse team asked me to [dance] again, it felt like an important commitment of time. It felt like something I could do during this time. There\u2019s so many things we can\u2019t do right now to improve the quality of life for ourselves and others, and this is one substantial opportunity to make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shere has witnessed Lighthouse\u2019s impact on the community in the past. Although virtual, she has faith this year\u2019s event will make a remarkable difference.<\/p>\n<p>This year\u2019s Dancing with the Stars virtual event will be held Nov. 21. Proceeds support Lighthouse\u2019s efforts to fight hunger, homeless and poverty in Oakland County. Learn more at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.detroitdancing.org\/\">detroitdancing.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"featured_media":3736,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"xn-wppe-expiration":[],"xn-wppe-expiration-action":[],"xn-wppe-expiration-prefix":[],"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news_categories":[121],"class_list":["post-3735","news-items","type-news-items","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news_categories-events"],"acf":{"photo_gallery":{"gallery":[[]]}},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Meet the Dancers: Alexandria Riley - Lighthouse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lighthousemi.org\/news-items\/meet-the-dancers-alexandria-riley\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meet the Dancers: Alexandria Riley - Lighthouse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When choosing music to dance to for this year\u2019s Dancing With the Stars, Alexandria Riley says one song came to mind: Dorinda Clark-Cole\u2019s hit, \u201cI\u2019m Still Here.\u201d For Riley, the 2002 gospel track has more meaning in 2020 than ever before. \u201cThe song is fitting considering we\u2019re still here despite the pandemic,\u201d she said. 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