Day three in Detroit began with getting ready and heading off to another Greening of Detroit project, this time in the neighborhood of Brightmoor, about twenty minutes from where we're staying near the University of Detroit Mercy. As we drove through the neighborhood, we saw boarded up houses and a wall of artwork—everything else seemed like any other normal suburban neighborhood.
We pulled up to one of the houses, and an older woman stepped out to greet us. She introduced herself as Ms. Reit, and after we introduced ourselves she invited us inside. We gathered in her living room, and she began to tell us about the community we would be working for throughout the day. Brightmoor, she said, was virtually abandoned—over 60% of the homes in the neighborhood are completely abandoned. These homes are privately owned, or owned by the city, county, or state. Many of them have back taxes and have been gutted by vandals for copper, furniture, and other valuable fixtures. We later learned that you can purchase a home in this neighborhood for $5000-$10000, and that down payments to rent are nonexistent. These homes stand vacant until they are boarded up, set on fire, or—best case scenario—the city tears them down. Ms. Reit is currently working toward rehabilitating the empty lots, making them into community gardens or pocket parks that can be utilized by the locals.
We would be working on a garden plot that is mostly used by children in the community, who help to plant and cultivate the land and then sell the crops for profit. Many times, this money goes toward helping maintain their families. Ms. Reit split us up into three groups. Three of us helped to dig out and sift the compost pile to use as topsoil for the beds, three went to create a new tomato garden, and six began to clean out the twenty three raised garden beds.
Our first four hours were spent digging, sifting, and plowing—preparing the garden so that the children can have a good starting point for the season. Ms. Reit is going to be working with twelve 8-12 year olds this harvesting season. They are all neighborhood children who, because of this program, will have the opportunity to learn work ethic and other transferable work skills—and hopefully turn a small profit to give back to their struggling families.
For lunch, Ms. Reit decided to bring us to a pocket park in the neighborhood. On our way there, she explained the various issues facing the community. She touched on battles with the city over back-taxes, struggles with apathetic neighbors, and she pointed out crime that the community faces on a daily basis. However, she also focused on the positive developments they have made, such as their largest community garden plot which has its own self-sustaining irrigation system built by children in the neighborhood with the guidance of her husband.
Some differences can be made by just one person. Ms. Riet is a remarkably positive influence whose dedication to her community is making a noticeable difference. She knows a phenomenal amount about the neighborhood, and told us some statistics to put the work of Brightmoor in perspective. All of the students who continue to work in her gardens also still attend to high school—they, however, are part of a minority as only 60% of high school aged people in the community actually attend high school. While Ms. Reit can make an incredible difference, staying in high school is not easy. Students must take two public buses that pick up on the same corner where many prostitutes work. This means that girls attempting to get an education must put up with being heckled at 5:30 in the morning while waiting at the bus stop. Ms. Reit will continue to work to change this, and we hope that our one day of work made a difference, however small.
After lunch, we went back to our tasks for the afternoon. With aching muscles and exhausted hands, at the end of the day we were able to see cleaned and top-soiled garden plots, a brand new tomato patch, and a sifted and turned compost pile. The garden is now ready for the children to begin their work!
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