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.

U-M’s Poverty Solutions initiative collaborated with the Detroit Phoenix Center to develop a series of communications workshops for the Summer Leadership Academy on owning your narrative, defining your point of view, using data to support your point, and crafting advocacy statements. 

“We hope it  is an experience of wonder and joy and delight. Just being out there on the water, enjoying the bounty, the beauty of the river, can have a lastingly powerful effect in itself on people’s sense of connection with their place in the world.”

~ David Porter, U-M English professor

“I did a lot of guest consulting at a lot of suburban schools. And I noticed that when I crossed Eight Mile, I didn’t see kids with instrument cases walking down the street. At that time, most of the schools in Detroit did not have music programs. So I decided to start Crescendo to make sure students had the opportunity to be in music.”

~ Damien Crutcher

Today, Eglash applies his knowledge in a number of areas — including working with under-represented students in Detroit. His work has earned the Joan Durrance Community Engagement Award from U-M as well as a new research grant from the National Science Foundation. 

Sherelle Hogan’s goal is to create a service model that can be replicated nationwide to combat the cycle of incarceration.

The Detroit River is saturated with stories. Designated as a Heritage River by both the U.S. and Canadian governments, the river and its wetlands were once vital habitat for fish and wildlife hunted by the People of the Three Fires and immortalized by their legends. 

Robin Jacob talks about the findings from a survey in the Detroit Public Schools Community District, which showed that a significant number of students in the district had symptoms of anxiety or depression within the past year. She explains that the survey was conducted in collaboration with the TRAILS program at U-M to understand the level of need so they could tailor programming to those needs.

Construction on the Early Childhood Education Center has finished and the new facility will welcome students in fall 2021. The School of Education is involved in curriculum and professional development for the center, as well as coordinating cross-campus holistic support services for children and families.