Urban Neighborhood Initiatives farmscape mural

Tiffany Lemieux-McKissic (CEDAM Manager of Membership and Communications) and Jessica AcMoody (CEDAM Office Manager) went to Detroit recently to visit CEDAM members and hear about the inspiring work they are doing.

The visit started at Abayomi Community Development Corporation in Northwest Detroit.  Unfortunately the power was out at their offices, but the Executive Director Tawnya Morris gave a tour of the service area and talked about the programs Abayomi offers.  Abayomi currently has an after school youth program, a youth sports program, counseling for youth offenders, tutoring, and life and leadership classes for families in the area.  Abayomi also offers a foreclosure counseling program and MSHDA certified home ownership counseling.

The next stop was Amandla Community Development Corporation, where we met with Executive Director Felicia Turner.  Felicia gave us a tour of the office and told us that Amandla has been expanding their foreclosure prevention counseling and has recently added new staff.  Amandla is also working on an extensive real estate development; stay tuned for more information!

Urban Neighborhood Initiatives mural

Our final stop was Urban Neighborhood Initiatives, where we met with Executive Director Dennis Nordmoe.  Dennis told us about UNI’s programs, which focus on moving the entire population (both children and adults) to a higher level of educational attainment.  Some of the programs include Head Start, after-school and summer programs, transitional support services, bilingual GED programs, English as a Second Language classes, and bilingual computer training.  Michael Boettcher of UNI gave us a tour of the area, and showed us the murals generated by UNI’s 2009 summer youth program.  Over 50 murals were commissioned by neighborhood residents and completed by students. The students were paid through CityConnect Detroit with stimulus fund dollars and trained by College for Creative Studies artists.

Dennis also showed us the Woodmere/Springdale Neighborhood Improvement Strategy, a comprehensive neighborhood strategic development plan recently completed with funding from Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC).  The Strategy details a grassroots redevelopment plan for Southwest Detroit. View an online PDF of the Strategy here.

From left to right: Kim Tyler (OPP Fund), Tiffany Lemieux-McKissic (CEDAM), Rachael Sanford, Jessica AcMoody (CEDAM), Lisa Nuszkowski (MFTF)

We wrapped up our time in Detroit at the Michigan Interfaith Trust Fund 25^th anniversary gala held at the Detroit Yacht Club, where the Fund unveiled their new name (the Opportunity Resource Fund) and logo.  The night’s theme was a film premiere, and guests walked the red carpet while “paparazzi” snapped pictures. The culmination of the evening was the big reveal, which took place during dessert. Cakes with the new logo were presented to gala attendees, as well as a three foot tall ice sculpture.  The Opportunity Resource Fund promotes social and economic justice by making resources available to entrepreneurs, property owners and others in need.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to meet with us, we look forward to working with you in 2011!

Witherbee's Market

At the end of September, Tiffany Lemieux-McKissic (CEDAM Manager of Membership and Communications) and Megan Kursik (Coalition Coordinator for the ABPP) traveled to Flint to meet with CEDAM and Asset Building Coalition members.

The first stop was Flint Neighborhood Improvement and Preservation Project (Flint NIPP), where we met with Executive Director Bitha Tucker. Bitha gave us a tour of some of the homes that they have renovated and also took us to Witherbee’s Market. Witherbee’s Market is an amazing new deli/grocery store in downtown Flint that stocks convenience items, fresh produce and local Michigan products. Flint NIPP partnered with other community stakeholders to complete the development of Witherbee’s Market.

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Hoffman's Deco Deli & Cafe

Next we met Jane Richardson and Bill Hammond of Salem Housing CDC at Hoffman’s Deli for lunch (the food was great and the antique store was really cool!). Bill gave us a fantastic tour of Salem Housing’s service area neighborhoods and gave us information about the challenges and bright spots in the city. We also got to see the tremendous amount of work that Salem has done rehabilitating homes and their work in the Max Brandon Park and the KingsWood/Metawanenee Hills Neighborhood.

We then stopped by Court Street Village Nonprofit Housing Corporation and met with Norma Sain and Nicole Rodden-Brown. Nicole took us on a tour of two newly completed ADR homes at 1108 and 1110 S. Grand Traverse. As you can tell from the picture below, the homes are beautiful. Please contact Nicole if you are interested in purchasing one of these homes.

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Home completed by Court Street Village Nonprofit Housing Corporation

Last and certainly not least, Megan met with Carlos Cisneros, chair of the Genesee County Tax Assistance and Financial Services Coalition. We discussed the potential for bringing Save to Win and other product access to VITA sites operating in the city of Flint. The potential for the coalition to host an asset building day in late January was also part of the discussion. The asset building day would inform Flint residents of the availability of free tax preparation services and how/why they should save to build financial security. We are pleased to report that both initiatives are moving forward.

Thank you to our Flint members and partners that took time to meet with us. Keep up the great work!

Jamie Schriner-Hooper (CEDAM Executive Director), Tiffany Lemieux-McKissic (CEDAM Manager of Membership and Communications), and Jessica AcMoody (CEDAM Office Manager) recently visited organizations in the Detroit area to learn about projects and the work going on in the community development industry.

Playground at Little Grace Village

Day one began with the Southwest Solutions “Solutions at Sunrise” fundraising breakfast.  This one-hour breakfast event highlighted the stories of people Southwest Solutions has served, and offered a great way to get an insider’s look into the programming of Southwest Solutions.

From there we traveled to downtown Pontiac to meet with Michelle Atwell (Director of Development) and Darin Weiss (Chief Operating Officer) at Grace Centers of Hope.  Michelle and Darin gave us a tour of the shelter and explained the extensive programs they offer to the homeless.  They also took us on a tour of Little Grace Village.  Consisting of nine homes on Seneca Street in Pontiac, Little Grace Village combines supportive services, safe and affordable housing, and neighborhood revitalization efforts for the graduates of the Two-Year Aftercare Program.  Grace Centers of Hope accommodates between 150-200 men, women, and children on any given night.

Next we traveled to Detroit to Neighborhood Service Organization (NSO) and met with Joe Heaphy (Vice President of Housing).   Joe told us about the myriad of programs offered by NSO including Emergency Telephone Services/Suicide Prevention Center, Gambling Treatment Program, Older Adult Services, Youth Initiatives Project, Housing Development, and Training Services (just to name a few).  He also told us about the NSO-Bell Building Revitalization project which will renovate the existing Bell Building in Detroit and turn it into residential and commercial space.  The residential space will house NSO’s clients and the commercial space will contain NSO staff.  We can’t wait to see the finished product!

Jessica AcMoody, Cathy Marshall, and Jamie Schriner-Hooper

We wrapped up the day with a visit to the Grandmont Rosedale Development Corporation (GRDC).  We met with Cathy Marks Marshall (Deputy Director) and she told us about all the programs going on at GRDC, including the farmer’s market, housing development, and commercial development happening in the Grandmont Rosedale neighborhoods.  Cathy then took us on a tour to show us the gorgeous houses and the beautification projects going on in the area.

On day two we met with Curtis Smith (Director of Housing Development) at Coalition on Temporary Shelter (COTS).  Curtis explained their programs, which provide services that enable people to achieve self-sufficiency and obtain quality affordable housing.  We spoke with one of COTS development partners about supportive housing projects COTS are developing in Detroit, and Curtis gave us a brief tour of the facilities.

We would like to thank everyone we visited for taking the time to show us all the exciting work they are doing in the Detroit area.  We will be back to visit more members and see the inspiring work going on in Southeast Michigan.