Cody Rouge youth build bus stops, residents help develop comprehensive community plan

The young people of Detroit's Cody Rouge neighborhood busted out the power tools over the weekend, building several bus stop benches to be placed along W. Chicago and Evergreen roads. Sit On It Detroit helped facilitate the construction project.

Members of the Cody Rouge Community Action Alliance Youth Council, which is made up of young people ranging in ages 12 to 18 that live, work, worship or attend school in the Cody Rouge neighborhood, came up with the idea. Those young people identified a need in their neighborhood, which received approval from the group's leaders and won a grant from the Detroit2Nepal Foundation.

Sit On It Detroit is a group that builds and installs bus stop benches throughout the city. The bus stop benches are constructed from reclaimed wood and typically feature mini-libraries built into the design.

It was a busy week for Cody Rouge. The westside neighborhood also announced a comprehensive community plan that officials say will help transform Cody Rouge into a premier Detroit neighborhood. Surveys, focus groups, and community meetings by Cody Rouge residents helped guide the plan's development, as well as Cody Rouge Community Action Alliance and Community Development Advocates of Detroit.

The community plan addresses issues around neighborhood stabilization, safety, land use, strengthened commercial corridors, support for community groups, and expanded opportunities for youth. Bolstering the community plan is the announced financial support of DTE Energy, General Motors, Quicken Loans, and the Skillman Foundation.

"As a lifetime resident of Cody Rouge and someone who has worked alongside fellow residents planning and implementing our goals for this community over the past 10 years, it's clear to me that our neighborhood is on the cusp of transformation," Kenyetta Campbell, executive director of the Cody Rouge Community Action Alliance, says in a statement. "We are turning Cody Rouge into a place people are proud to call home, where children are encouraged to bloom where they are planted."

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