In this week’s Fellow Spotlight, we are checking in with Kirsten Bondalapati. She fills us in on what she enjoys most about living in the city, and her host company, Hospice of Michigan!

Tell us about your move to Detroit

I moved to Detroit last August, most recently from a summer internship in Ann Arbor, but more permanently from Atlanta, in which I spent the previous two years in graduate school for public health, at Emory University. I looked at a good amount of apartments in the greater downtown area and settled on an studio loft in Midtown. I was looking forward to the move to Detroit, but didn’t know what exactly to expect. I grew up in Bloomfield Hills and spent my teenage years sneaking out to the city to see concerts. I’ve always had positive memories with Detroit and was super excited to experience the city full-force as an adult.

What do you enjoy the most about working, living, playing, giving and leading in Detroit?

Totally cliché, but being in Detroit makes me able to be myself like no where has before. I think it has to do with the people here, being super friendly and open to new things. There is also such a true creative spirit people carry here. Every single person I’ve met who lives in the city cares about something, they aren’t apathetic or only looking out for themselves, which I find to be incredibly refreshing. It’s a great environment to be in for getting meaningful work done and having original, fun experiences in your free time.

What do you like most about the Challenges?

I love being able to work with a different non-profit every five weeks. One of the main reasons I wanted to do Challenge Detroit is to learn about the city and get connected to different organizations that have prioritized building and giving back to the city. I’ve learned more about the city and the non-profit landscape through Challenge Detroit in the past nine months than I would have on my own over the course of many years. When I’m talking about Detroit to people who are unfamiliar with the city, I’m sometimes surprised at the sheer amount of information I can pull up about Detroit. In working with non-profits, we as fellows have the opportunity to be creative and present innovative solutions for organizations that would never be able to get certain things done simply due to their limited resources and capacity. 

Tell us about some things you are passionate about in Detroit.

I came to Detroit with the goal to help improve communities by preventing disease and promoting health, especially mental health. I not only believe that healthy communities can strengthen the city, but I also know that bigger issues such as gentrification, multi-modal transportation and public education are intertwined with the public’s health. These bigger issues are things just about everyone is concerned with in Detroit, no matter what field they work in. I find that Detroit has great opportunity to be a leader in community and public health if we can work together to integrate preventative health into urban planning.

What are you most looking forward to in Detroit?

I’m looking forward to the possibility of functional transportation, via the M-1 rail. It will connect people who haven’t been in the past, reduce pollution, bring in business for existing shops and lead to additional economic develop. Even in the last nine months while living in Midtown, there has already been so much development. It will definitely be exiting to see the positive change in the community, and hopefully the initial rail line will lead to the development of new lines connecting the entire city.

Check out Kirsten’s personal blog here, and her spotlight video.