Tell us about living in Detroit. What neighborhood do you live in and what things make it unique?

I live in Elmwood Park with two roommates. Sometimes I feel like I stepped outside of a big city entirely when I enter it.  There are big fields that I play with my dog in. I live in a corner of three different schools and near a cemetery and it is almost like a pocket of green space near to downtown and the highways.  Minus the influx of bugs and spiders, it has been a real blessing to live here.  I have very kind neighbors and we live nearby to many different hubs: Downtown, major highways, Midtown, Belle Isle, Indian Village, West Village.

What have you learned from Challenge Detroit so far?

The best part of Challenge Detroit thus far is really pressing us outside of our comfort zones.  We are exposed to situations and places that may not be in our daily routines. I am constantly learning the extent of our flexibility and empathy towards the communities around us that we might not initially interact with.  Along with this, I am slowly piecing together the geography of the city on a rolling basis as we explore neighborhoods and work with nonprofits around the city.   Detroit, I have learned, is a city of communities and as people start coming together they are inherently doing good for their community by standing by one another. As I go through Challenge Detroit, I am meeting phenomenal leaders who all care for the city and especially the people who have been in Detroit their whole lives and deserve better.

Tell us about your host company and your role in the organization.

I work at Edward C. Levy in Dearborn, Michigan.  Levy has a diverse skillset that they work in, including Steel Mill Services, Asphalt, Aggregates, and a budding start in fertilizer called ‘PlantTuff’. The company has the values of a family, with extreme focus on family, safety, and care for their employees. The company started when Edward C. Levy met with Ford during the rise in Steel and removed excess material that wasn’t Steel in the molten pots called ‘Slag’.  Through processes, the slag is cooled and crunched down into different sizes and utilized in a broad scope of practices around the world.

I am in the IT&S (Information Technology and Services) department where I assist with training projects within the company. I work with programs to help create teaching aids to make a standard training process when Levy hires on new people or begins a new technological process that their employees may not be familiar with.  I have enjoyed learning new programs and working with people in the company to establish these ELearning programs.

What kind of impact do you hope to have with your host company and within the city?

I hope to have an impact in small ways.   I’m not looking to be a superhero, but I hope that the work that I do with Challenge helps to encourage people to make their communities what they deserve as native Detroiters.  As for my impact at Edward C. Levy? I hope that I can inspire them to take credit for the amount of community outreach they do and encourage more employees to embrace Detroit as a neighbor and opportunity.

What are you most looking forward to as you begin your fellowship year?

I am looking forward to making meaningful relationships with people in this city working with neighborhoods, with nonprofits, and individuals who are willing to contribute their opinions on what they want to see. I am excited to start my career not only at Levy but with nonprofits around the city, in hopes of making it a habit for me to work outwards.

To learn even more about Mariisa’s experience in Detroit so far check out her spotlight video!