There have been 135,000 tax foreclosures in Detroit since 2009, and more than 50,000 occupied homes are stuck in chronic tax delinquency. Michelle Daine Bell was one of those homeowners. In 2018, United Community Housing Coalition worked with nearly 5,000 households to resolve tax and mortgage foreclosures, allowing Detroiters like Michelle to buy their homes...
Trunino Lowe is a young trumpet player from Detroit’s east side. A junior at Wayne State University studying jazz performance, Trunino began playing trumpet in the sixth grade through a program at the Carr Center. Throughout his high school years, Trunino joined youth jazz ensembles at Michigan State University’s Community Music School: Detroit and the Detroit...
Because the arts are a critical part of quality of life, we provide unrestricted financial support for Detroit arts and cultural organizations. Since 2010, we have partnered with the Kresge Foundation on a shared application, review, and reporting process for arts general operating grants. In addition to streamlining the process for applicants, our partnership with...
A native Detroiter and renowned jazz bassist, Marion Hayden lives in Highland Park with her husband, artist M. Saffell Gardner. Together, the couple served as review panelists for the inaugural Community heART Highland Park program (CAHP). From June to August 2018, the $50,000 regrant program funded murals, community art trails, outdoor art festivals, and arts...
Janlynn Miller, a long-time resident on Detroit’s east side, is a natural educator who understands the importance of peer learning. Janlynn is one of 40 ambassadors trained through the Land + Water WORKS Coalition to teach their neighbors about GSI and help them install rain gardens and rain barrels. The ambassadors receive a performance-based stipend,...
Farmers and gardeners across Detroit implemented innovative rainwater harvesting systems, learning solutions that would conserve both water and money. The integration of water stewardship into urban agriculture is one example of the many ways that grassroots communities are informing the sustainability movement. Video credit: Cass Corridor Films.
On the city’s Northwest side, Detroiters celebrated their neighborhoods through the popular two-day Sidewalk Festival and a new artistic reimagining of Eliza Howell Park. Video credit: Oren Goldenberg, Cass Corridor Films
After participating in a series of peer-led workshops, 68 farmers across Southeast Michigan, representing 15% of the farmland in the Western Lake Erie watershed, committed to practices that would prevent pollutants such as phosphorous and nitrogen from running off into the lake. Each farmer learned how to improve crop yields and soil health while reducing...
Every day, residents, city leaders, nonprofits, and the business community are innovating green stormwater infrastructure solutions to prevent untreated sewage discharge. Video Credit: Oren Goldenberg, Cass Corridor Films. This video was commissioned in partnership with the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department.
Video by Cass Corridor Films. This video served as the opener for the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Green Infrastructure Conference, held in Detroit from May 31 – June 2, 2017. Commissioned in partnership by the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation and the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, it highlights and celebrates the collaborative...