CEDAM blog

[This post is part of the monthly CEDAM Member News Roundup series.  If you have news to share, send it our way or leave a message in the comments section at the bottom of this post.]

The Michigan Individual Development Account Partnership has been awarded $514,822 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families. MIDAP is a collaborative managed by CEDAM member, Oakland Livingston Human Service Agency (OLHSA), with funding support from MSHDA.  The funds will be used to create Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), which help low-income households build up savings for a home, small business, or education purchase. Read more.

During July, the Community Housing Network needs your votes to win $50,000 in the Pepsi Refresh Project (please vote every day). This grant will fill operational gaps and enable them to provide beds and basic household furnishings for the houses they build.  Vote Here. See photos here from CHN’s recent groundbreaking for a new supportive housing property.

Creekside Community Development Corporation was recently featured in Model D highlighting their work in Northeast Detroit.   In May and June, Creekside worked with the Greening of Detroit to beautify A.B. Ford Park in preparation for Pizazz in the Park on Saturday, August 23.  They also closed on 10 affordable, green homes.  Creekside is also hosting a kayaking demonstration on July 24^th and a kayak tour of the East Riverfront on August 12^th.

Detroit’s Community Legal Resources, through the Detroit Vacant Property Campaign, awarded $60,000 to 16 local community-based groups.  The funds will be used to reduce vacant properties in Detroit and turn these areas into neighborhood assets.  CEDAM members Creekside Community Development Corporation, St. Ignatius Nonprofit Housing Corporation, Prevailing Community Development Corporation, Nortown Community Development Corporation and Grandmont Rosedale Development Corporation are among the organizations to receive the funds. Read more.

Recently, Witherbee’s Market & Deli opened in Downtown Flint.  The 8,000-square-foot full-service grocery story and deli is stocked with packaged sandwiches and salads for pickup and outside seating for downtown workers and college students.  The Neighborhood Improvement and Preservation Project secured the financing and rehabilitated the old tire shop.  The store provides new options and a closer facility for the downtown area residents. Read more.

Habitat for Humanity started their first family build in Detroit.  This is an initiative by Gov. Granholm and First Gentleman Dan Mulhern to rebuild and revitalize Michigan.  Members of Granholm family joined volunteers from Henry Ford Health System and Habitat for Humanity Detroit in the building. Read more or watch a video.

[This post is part of the monthly CEDAM Member News Roundup series.  If you have news to share, send it our way or leave a message in the comments section at the bottom of this post.]

WARM Training Center was announced as one of Michigan’s top ten green leaders for the work it does around energy efficiency, weatherization, and other greening efforts.

Livonia Housing Commission is preparing to sell foreclosed properties bought with neighborhood stabilization funds and then rehabbed or demolished. Selling the properties will get them back on tax rolls and improve the look of the neighborhood.

Habitat for Humanity of Oakland County hosted a homeownership fair on April 17, with fair guests including Community Housing Network, Lighthouse, and Oakland Livingston Human Services Agency. Attendees got to learn about Habitat homeownership, tour a Habitat home, and learn about other organizations that aid families in the pursuit of homeownership.

Photo from last year's Neighborhood Beautification Day.

Upcoming: Southwest Solutions’ 4th annual Neighborhood Beautification Day will take place on June 5th from 8am to 1pm. Southwest Solutions recruits volunteers for this day to landscape, paint, remove graffiti, plant flowers, and other beautification projects around southwest Detroit.  See the event flyer here and RSVP here.

On March 23rd, CEDAM staff attended the annual Habitat for Humanity of Michigan Awards Banquet at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing. The banquet honored supporters of Habitat for Humanity and exceptional volunteers during the 2009 year. The awards ceremony was followed by speeches from Governor Granholm and Jonathan Reckford, the CEO for Habitat for Humanity International. Also in attendance were around 40 Michigan legislators. Overall, a great showing of support for community development in Michigan!

Lansing State Journal photo: Tuesday Toolmen build a wheelchair ramp in Lansing.

This month the Greater Lansing Housing Coalition launched its new Tuesday Toolmen program. On the first Tuesday of the program, volunteers got together to build a wheelchair ramp. The volunteers will continue meeting on Tuesdays until November to do free home repairs and small construction projects for seniors and people with disabilities.

ASTI Environmental is working with Michigan State University and the Greening of Detroit to prepare a new pilot urban farming project in Detroit. ASTI will measure the quality of the soil to determine how best to prepare it for planting. The farm is expected to be fully operational within a year.

Finally, as we near the end of March we get closer to tax day. With that in mind, the Accounting Aid Society is offering help with tax preparation at sites across Michigan for low income individuals. AAS also offers tax preparation for those unable to travel to a tax site through their Homebound Program. To see a list of the tax preparation sites currently open, visit this part of the AAS website.

NorthWest Initiative: a youth community garden and "hoophouse" in Lansing

NorthWest Initiative and Allen Neighborhood Center, together with other groups and nonprofits, put on the third Greater Lansing Youth Gardening Conference. At the conference youths and adults attended different sessions to learn different gardening techniques – everything from getting a garden started to setting up a worm bin for compost.

Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living collaborated with University of Michigan’s School of Art and Design to offer clay sculpting classes to people with disabilities. The classes – which began at the end of January – are so popular that there is a wait list. Watch an inspiring video of this community building event here.

Hancock Housing Foundation’s new Quincy Haven supportive housing will begin construction and be ready for occupancy around March 2011. All 24 units will be handicap accessible, with extra-wide doors and low cabinets for occupants in wheelchairs. The apartments are specifically for those with special needs, the homeless, and people seeking refuge from domestic abuse.

Greater Corktown Development Corporation put together an exhibit called Corktown Works!, which is now on display at the Detroit Historical Museum in Midtown until April 25. The exhibit celebrates the past, present, and future of Corktown and its community. Exhibits include seats from the old Tiger Stadium and worker uniforms from different eras. This article from Detroit modelD explains more.

It is not every day that you can support a CEDAM member by eating chocolate, and it’s not too late to do so: Underground Railroad Inc.’s Chocolate Lovers Benefit is Sunday the 31st in Saginaw. Attendees will get to sample chocolates and other novelties from local shops, see a live performance by Walt Evans, and participate in a silent auction. See more information and RSVP online or pay at the door.

Alger-Marquette Community Action Board’s weatherization program, which is free to income-eligible households in the area, saves homeowners an average of 24% on energy costs. Joe Pirante, the housing director at AMCAB, says that in many cases the biggest factor in energy savings is the home’s heating system itself. Having a heating contractor clean and tune the system every few years will improve efficiency. More in this news article.

Ingham County Land Bank will be one of the eight land banks aided by NSP2 grant money awarded to Michigan for neighborhood revitalization. News article.

Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries received a tremendous donation of furniture from Art Van Furniture, who partnered with the daytime drama “Days of our Lives” and local NBC affiliate WDIV Channel 4. Read more.

Southwest Housing Solutions Corp received $4 million from the U.S. Department of Labor’s ‘Pathways out of Poverty’ training grant. The grant money will be used to train disadvantaged Detroit residents for green jobs in areas such as weatherization, deconstruction and material reuse, renewable energy, forestry, and urban agriculture. Go here for more on Pathways out of Poverty, or see Southwest Solutions’ article.

[This post is part of the biweekly CEDAM Member News Roundup series.  If you have news to share, send it our way or leave a message in the comments section at the bottom of this post.]

New single-family homes built by Southwest Housing Solutions.

Southwest Housing Solutions recently completed 44 homes in Detroit, all of which are now occupied.  SWHS made sure that the homes were accessible to handicap residents as well.  “This is the best place I’ve ever lived,” said Charlotte Ketelhut, a mother living in one of the SWHS homes with her two daughters.  Read the full article from Southwest Solutions.

Michigan Now, a public radio news series, has a new website.  The new website has archives of Michigan Now stories listed by topic, links to follow on Twitter or through RSS, a list of the radio stations that broadcast Michigan Now stories, and more.  Go check it out!

Northeast Michigan Community Service Agency received a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to expand its Early Head Start program.  Besides offering services to additional clients, the grant will also cover fifteen new staff members.  Read the news article.

Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries (DRMM) plans to help homeless or uninsured/underinsured women and children in Pontiac get access to medical treatment.  Twice a week DRMM will pick up clients and take them to the DRMM Medical Clinic in Highland Park.  This new service is available thanks to the large number of volunteers involved with DRMM.  Read the news article.

The Human Development Commission is seeing an increasing number of people lining up each month to receive food from the Commodity Supplemental Food Program.  The program is designed to help low-income individuals avoid malnutrition. Read the news article.