Failing to ensure more Detroiters can stay in their homes will increase the likelihood of a resurgence of COVID-19 in the city and surrounding areas, as having a stable place to live is critical to social distancing.

Amy Good’s work with Alternatives For Girls was inspired by a challenge she received from professor emerita Rosemary Sarri as she neared graduation from U-M’s School of Social Work. “She said, ‘Do something hard, and build something that wasn’t there before,” Good said. 

People living in poverty and the working poor will have an especially difficult time weathering the global pandemic, which is taking a toll on people’s economic security and health, said H. Luke Shaefer, director of Poverty Solutions.

The survey found Detroiters are most concerned about being able to care for family and friends and getting the health care they need during the coronavirus pandemic, even more so than having a place to live and access to transportation. 

“I hope that the work of our foundation, and the people we have invested in, will create a ripple effect of social justice for years to come.”
~ David Bohnett

“I’m seeing people stepping up and starting these businesses that have an urban focus or that are designed in some way to improve the quality of life in cities. But on the other hand I think it is just a really challenging undertaking.”

~ David Tarver

“We have a team of interdisciplinary students responding in various ways: law students researching legal questions related to Small Business Administration lending, public policy students creating easy to understand guides, and design students designing templates for businesses moving to online sales.”
~ Justin Erickson, program manager for the Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project.

“I’m constantly thinking about equity and how can the good fortunes be spread and go into the neighborhoods that haven’t been touched so much. That’s really important.”
~ Margaret Dewar

The Detroit School was created in 2012 by University of Michigan Professor Margaret Dewar and three PhD students in the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, who wanted to view urban planning through the lens of shrinking populations.