Detroit Innovation is a series highlighting community-led projects that are improving the vitality of neighborhoods in Detroit, while recognizing the potential of residents to work with partners to solve the most pressing challenges facing their communities.
The series is supported by the New Economy Initiative, a project of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan that's working to create an inclusive, innovative regional culture.
Creating Space Detroit hopes to raise $8,440 through the crowdfunding campaign to get started on the process of installing playground equipment, bench seating, solar lighting, a pavilion or gazebo, and a Little Free Library.
While not exciting like a new business or app, block clubs have quietly stabilized neighborhoods, provided residents with opportunities, and brought neighbors closer together.
Jalyn Spencer-Harris and Alex Fluegel were disappointed with the lack of resources and a quality support system for moms in Detroit. That's why they founded Detroit Mama Hub.
Founded earlier this year, Detroit Hives hopes to eliminate blight in the city by repurposing vacant lots, promoting honey bee conservation, and educating the community about bee farming and the benefits of honey bees.
Through her design nonprofit Bleeding Heart Design, Rebecca "Bucky" Willis creates small, impactful projects in her neighborhood that start dialogues and enact change.
Typically thought of as inhabiting only the spiritual realm or providing support for the indigent, Detroit churches are branching out to be more than that for their neighborhoods—as business incubators and job skill trainers.
In the course Better Buildings, Better Blocks, participants learn how to do every essential aspect of purchasing a property not for the purposes flipping real-estate, but to create lasting community value.
In an op-ed for Model D, the director of the New Economy Initiative argues that supporting residents and their ideas, rather than imposing top-down strategies, will ensure that revitalization efforts in Detroit are equitable and lasting.
With the assistance of the Grandmont Rosedale Development Corporation, hundreds of residents in northwest Detroit have been volunteering their time to clean up, beautify, and revitalize their neighborhood.
Even in a digitally focused world, old-school methods can sometimes get the job done more effectively, especially when it comes to real community engagement.
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