The Cody Rouge Community Action Alliance (CRCAA) and Team GM Cares are committed to community action and the success of the Cody Rouge residents. Their mission is to revitalize and sustain a healthy community where residents have access to and promote a high quality of life.  By creating and assisting strong families, producing high quality education, strengthening block clubs, creating and implementing plans for safety and forming plans for economic revitalization and training among the youth and adults, positive economic development can be ensured.

Challenge Detroit fellow, Miranda Day (that’s me!), joined in conversations with CRCAA and Team GM Cares to identify ways that she could participate in the continual transformation of Cody Rouge public spaces through for her individual Impact Project as part of her final challenge with the fellowship.

Goals/Objectives:

  • Enhancing community pride through creation and installation of branded signage
  • Improve corporate and community volunteer engagement with residents through increased collaboration and partnership on projects

Purpose/Vision of Impact Project:

The purpose of this project is to engage community members, specifically youth at local schools, and inspire their work and efforts through inspirational imagery and messing.

Insights: 

  • Cody Rouge is home to nearly 13,000 children between the ages of 0-18
  • Educational Attainment: 29% without high school diploma

Final Design Question:

How might we inspire and encourage youth at Cody Rouge learning facilities through art and positive messaging?

Areas of Focus: 

  • Dixon Educational Learning Academy – 8401 Trinity Street
  • Mann Elementary School – 19625 Elmira Street

Deliverables:

  • Murals

Process:

  1. Site visits to Dixon and Mann schools
  2. Wall selection for murals based on school and student input
  3. Digital image mapping and rendering (see example below)
  4. Paint and supplies selections / purchase
  5. Execution: Week of July 24th during Grow Cody Rouge Project 2017

List of Related Stakeholders:

  • Cody Rouge Community Action Alliance
  • General Motors
  • Quicken Loans
  • DTE
  • Skillman Foundation

Roles:

Visioning, design, communication, and community engagement

 Project Timeline & Planning:

1) Empathy / Context-setting):

  • Meet Cody Rouge Community Action Alliance
  • Meet Youth Council
  • Site visits
  • Conversations with students and staff

2) Define / Ideate:

  • Generate design concepts
  • Strategic visioning/design planning

3) Prototype / Build Deliverables:

  • Collect and process community feedback
  • Edit design to meet community need

4) Test / Refine Deliverables:

  • Establish a volunteer painting schedule as it aligns with Grow Cody Rouge 2017 corporate and community volunteerism partnership
  • Final designs painted on site