At the end of 50 years, Anika Goss sees a city with productive, intentional green spaces, a Detroit with economic clusters with great jobs, and neighborhoods that have diverse housing choices and transportation options and family-friendly services. 

As Amy Good neared graduation from the University of Michigan’s School of Social Work, Professor Rosemary Saari gave her a challenge. “She said, ‘Do something hard, and build something that wasn’t there before,” Good says.

The variety and volume of the University of Michigan’s efforts touch Detroit’s neighborhoods, its community organizations and its residents. While the specific goals and partners of each effort vary, all of the work aims to help boost the vitality of Detroit and the region.

 “We take great care in our curation and love creating a platform for objects that goes against the grain of mass production. Detroit is a special place right now in that there are many small businesses with distinct visions, and it is so important to shop from locally owned stores.”

~ Erin Wetzel

“When I use some of those tools and techniques that I learned in Dr. Mohr’s class and my other Ford School classes to really try to unpack what’s at the root cause of both these challenges and these opportunities, what I come to is designers,” said Olga Stella, U-M alumna and now executive director of Design Core Detroit.

It is noteworthy when a world-renown cultural institution housing priceless art gives you a chance to display what you did over your summer vacation. That is what the Detroit Institute of Arts is doing for a group of Delray students as it honors their families, stories and creativity through their personal ofrendas.

“I never thought my career would have unfolded the way it has, but I’ve had the opportunity to work on projects that I think have made the world a better place. I never thought I’d be a municipal lawyer, but when the opportunity came up, I took it. And that’s how I’ve always tried to live my life. To go where I can do the most good,” said Eli Savit, U-M Law School alumnus and lawyer for the city of Detroit.

Yes, she will drive across two mountain ranges and eight states in a car “held together by duct tape and rust and prayers” to erase the effects of procrastination and get to grad school on time. But no, she will not leave Detroit for the suburbs.

Dexter Mason says: “To be honored by the Detroit Center is one of the greatest honors of my life. The room I received the award in was actually the same room where I had orientation for U-M’s Summer Bridge program almost 10 years before. So it was just full circle. I couldn’t have imagined where I’d be 10 years later, and I give all the credit to U-M for that.”