“Having partnerships like this allows more people to be involved in environmental work without feeling like you need to be a scientist and have the training. You can have your life experience and have partners who can help you with the data and the research and the connections.”
~ Raquel Garcia, executive director of Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision

“We’ve done a great deal with housing and revitalization. We’ve worked a great deal with workforce development and with public health. So a lot of how we live out our mission happens in the city of Detroit.”
~ Luke Shaefer, director of Poverty Solutions

In partnership with University of Michigan and the Detroit Public Schools Community District, the city of Detroit is bringing back Saturdays in the D. It’s a free program that provides fun, enriching activities for 75-100 Detroit youth (middle and high school) and 100 adults.

To evaluate the impact of these projects and document lessons learned along the way,  CEDAM has partnered with Trina Shanks, University of Michigan social work professor, and her team at the Center for Equitable Family and Community Well-Being. The team will gather and analyze data from network member programs to improve understanding of the impact of student participation in these savings accounts.

“We appreciated U-M’s focus on equity and neighborhood development. I envision we’ll continue to work with them on a regular basis. The need is so great, the opportunity is there, and there’s alignment with our work. I can’t think of a better partner.”
~ Hector Hernandez, executive director of Southwest Economic Solutions

“Working with good researchers who aren’t only here for the research but engage with the community and understand participants’ culture and language to help achieve meaningful data is really important to us.”

~ Dr. Richard Bryce

Cadillac Urban Gardens doesn’t just grow produce. It grow leaders and environmental stewards, says U-M alumna Sarah Clark, who founded the garden. Clark started working with Dolores Perales in 2013 when she was a sophomore at Detroit Cristo Rey High School. Perales went on to earn dual master’s degrees from U-M.

Museum founder Olayami Dabls, an artist and storyteller who grew up in Detroit, wanted the museum’s exterior to tell the same story as the strands and jars of colorful beads displayed inside. Since 1998, the African Bead Museum has drawn visitors from around the world. He partnered with U-M recently on the AfricanFuturist Greenhouse, designed to mimic bead patterns.

This past spring the farm grew 14,000 tomato transplants in collaboration with Keep Growing Detroit for distribution in that organization’s Garden Resource Program that supports over 2,000 urban and community gardens in the city.