For my final project with Challenge Detroit, I worked with the Grandmont Rosedale Development Corporation (GRDC) and more specifically the Grand River Workplace (an initiative of GRDC). I was tasked with identifying better ways to communicate with local small businesses on the Grand River corridor.
Using the human-centered design approach, I began by interviewing the community […]
Despite popular belief, you don’t need to buy an expensive plane ticket to take a trip around the world. In fact, you can travel to Jordan, Berlin, Brooklyn, Honduras, Iraq, Afghanistan, Rwanda, or Mexico City, without ever going through airport security. You don’t even need to pack a bag.
Sounds too good to be true, right? […]
Lester was born in Trinidad and Tobago, a small island about seven miles off of the coast of Venezuela at the closest point. He grew up in Brooklyn and keeps his New York accent to this day. Lester moved to Detroit 21 years ago, the same year he lost his mother, Norma G.
His mother is […]
Ralph Taylor is the coolest person I met this week, and you can meet him, too! He leaves the door to his workshop, Caribbean Mardi Gras Productions, open to the public during business hours. Anyone can wander into his shop off East Lafayette and discover the magic within.
An eight-foot tall, golden puppet greets visitors at […]
I have different layers of emotion when seeing a house being demolished. First, I think of the original owners of the home. I think about the hours they spent agonizing over the colors of walls, the positions of furniture, and the treatments of windows. I wonder if they are alive. If they drive by occasionally. […]
The Prompt
The potential impact of art in health interventions has been increasingly studied and confirmed in recent years. Our third challenge prompt demanded we take a look through this lens, focusing on ways to inspire healthy, active lifestyles. My team of five chose to focus on reaching youth living on the east side of Detroit.
The […]
As all Detroiters know, there is a special kind of grit that this city gifts its residents; A confident resilience that chugs on like an old Ford engine, stands proud like the Fischer Building, and gracefully endures adversity like the old Michigan Central Station. Detroiters seek a light at the end of the darkest tunnels, even […]
In this blog, I would like to share a bit about my family. Specifically, my grandmother, who I endearingly call “Gran” or “Grannie.” She moved to Detroit in the 1940s with her parents who were looking for work in the automobile factories. I love hearing her stories about Detroit when she was a young girl. […]
I was taught this lesson through the tales of Steinbeck back in high school. Yet here I am, a decade later, struggling to admit that my great idea isn’t as appealing in reality as it was in my mind. #365DaysofDetroit Instagram series had the promise of radiant graffiti, quirky places, and humans of all walks of life. […]
The Challenge
My first assignment as a Challenge Detroit fellow was to conduct a food assessment in the 48214 zip code as part of a team of six fellows. Contrary to popular belief, food insecurity is not contained to third world countries far, far away; Hunger affects 1 in 8 Americans. Through our study we learned who […]
