More than 200 volunteers will come together to seed 500+ vacant lots with wildflowers in attempts to raise neighborhood awareness.
On August 10, 2013, Mitch Albom and Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries (DRMM) will join forces with the Detroit Blight Authority and Bill Pulte to help beautify more than 500 vacant lots in the Brightmoor neighborhood in Detroit.
Carrying on from the successful 100 Houses events, which Albom and DRMM debuted and organized in 2012, the organizations will come together as part of the Detroit Blight Authority’s second blight elimination project.
The 500+ lots, which rest in an unsafe area of the city and span 14 city blocks, will be seeded with wildflowers by more than 200 volunteers. By partnering with Mitch Albom and DRMM, Pulte hopes to attract volunteers from all over metro-Detroit and possibly the entire state, and raise awareness about blight elimination and its ability to improve safety and quality of life in the City.
“We’re trying to put forth a model for the rest of the city in terms of how blight elimination should be done,” said Pulte in an interview with the Detroit Free Press. “It makes sense to do it in a concentrated, effective manner. Focus on an area, leverage the cost savings of doing it in a specific area, and find areas that can benefit from it…if we’re able to scale this model across the rest of the city, it will change Detroit’s landscape as we know it—financially and safety-wise.”
Pulte and the Detroit Blight Authority began removing blighted structures, debris, trash, and brush in the Brightmoor area in early June. It is part of a 5-step plan that Pulte and the Detroit Blight Authority have embarked on to eradicate blight from the City of Detroit. The project on Aug. 10 will be one of the last efforts in the Brightmoor area to remove and eliminate blight.
“Bill’s project is very similar to what we began with the 100 Houses project last year,” said Albom. “By working together and encouraging people from all over to come out and volunteer their time to help rejuvenate Detroit neighborhoods, the community will be greatly impacted and we will begin to see real results. We’re very excited to help in every way we can.”
Volunteers will begin gathering at 9 a.m. on Aug. 10 for on-site check-in at Outer-Drive Burgess Park, located on W. Outer Drive in between Burgess and Chapel streets. Starbucks will be providing free coffee during morning registration, and the first 150 volunteers to check in will receive a free Blight Elimination t-shirt. The event will conclude at noon with a free lunch provided by the Blight Authority.
Volunteers should dress comfortably and weather-appropriately. Work gloves are recommended for every volunteer to bring, and all volunteers must be wearing closed-toed shoes in order to participate. Volunteers will be divided into 30 teams to tackle the 500+ lots. On-site security will be patrolling the area during the entire event.
To register to volunteer for the event, go online at https://drmm.org/volunteerevent.htm and register under the project name: Blight Elimination – 100 Houses Event. For more information contact Rachael Williams, Director of Volunteer Services for Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries at (313) 993-4700, ext. 4715 or email her at rwilliams@drmm.org.
All media requests should go to Dr. Chad Audi, President (313) 993-4700.