All Challenge Detroit fellows are responsible for a certain number of volunteer hours per month. At the beginning of the fellowship, I knew I wanted to volunteer with, and learn about, a handful of different organizations around the city, but I had hoped to find one that I would want to be involved with regularly. It ended up being Clark Park, a community organization that has served youth in Southwest Detroit for 25 years.

The history of Clark Park was mentioned in a recent blog about a volunteer activity that the entire fellowship cohort participated in, but it is worth mentioning again.

Clark Park is a symbol of how dedicated Detroiters can save their community. Like so many other great institutions and places in Detroit, the city abandoned Clark Park amidst financial crisis in the early 1990s. Determined not to let it become like so many of the other desolate and blighted parks that we see around the city today, a group of community activists banded together and created the Clark Park Coalition. This newly formed non-profit organization partnered with the city to make sure the park remained a community staple, not an eyesore. Now, 25 years later, it has become a second home for thousands of youth and adults in Southwest Detroit. It has provided athletic, educational, and extracurricular opportunities to countless numbers of kids who have gone on to become employees, educators, coaches, and supporters of the park. On a more personal level, it has given me a place and a purpose in a community that I was completely new to only a few months ago.

Coach Ryan thanking all the parents and players at the Clark Park Hockey Banquet in early April (above). A video of some young hockey players receiving end-of-season awards (below).

Right now, you’re probably thinking, ‘okay, so what does Clark Park and a hockey program have to do with the curious culture of Detroit businesses?’ Read on. I promise I’m going somewhere with this.

It came as a bit of a surprise a few weeks ago when I heard a comment about a recent support for the park in passing. It seems unjust to paraphrase here, but I don’t remember the exact verbiage. It went something like…

‘Clark Park seems to be the big community organization that everyone supports now. We need to diversify our donations and give to other community-based organizations in Southwest and in the city.  Clark Park is the new, popular choice but there are other non-profits that have been around for a long time and need our help.’

Given my appreciation for Clark Park and what it has done for this community, the comment annoyed me a bit. Why would this person feel like she needs to bring the park down in order to increase support for other community organizations? Is there a reason people think their loyalty can only be devoted to one or the other?

Beyond my personal frustration, it reminded me of an issue that seems to be unique to Detroit – a belief that we cannot support both new and old businesses at the same time. This belief is perpetuated by situations like President Obama’s recent visit to Detroit when he spent a good portion of his time visiting a few new businesses on Canfield in Midtown. Obama attended the Auto Show, got pizza and beer at Jolly Pumpkin (a business that opened in April 2015), and hung out with the founder of Shinola. Whoever created the President’s schedule wanted him to see the new, up-and-coming business culture that is brewing in Detroit. Unfortunately, that also meant shutting out Detroit’s “been-ups” and this city is too emotionally fragile to let that slide. The outpouring of frustration in the days following the President’s visit only brought more controversy to an already tense conversation regarding new and old businesses in Detroit.

Granted, the for-profit economy is much different than the non-profit economy, but everyone needs support in order to function. I hope all Metro Detroiters (and whoever creates future Presidential schedules) can see that support for new and old businesses is not a mutually exclusive concept. I also hope that the woman who made the comment about Clark Park realizes that increased support for the park is a good thing for this community, and the success of one organization shouldn’t mean the failure of another.