More than 100 events, involving hundreds of community organizations and thousands of people, will come together Saturday August 6, 2011, for the 5th Annual ARISE Detroit! Neighborhoods Day.
Neighborhoods Day was established in 2007 to showcase Detroit's "Transformation Community," those groups, organizations and unsung heroes working to create a better community throughout the year.
City residents will use thousands of volunteers to build new homes, clean up neighborhoods, hold education events and health fairs, sign up students for college scholarships, plant community gardens and much more.
Numerous community service events and activities will be found all over the city, stretching from the Detroit Riverfront to Eight Mile Road. Events will begin at dawn and conclude in the evening at the ARISE Detroit! Renewing the Village Celebration in Hart Plaza at the Ribs R n B Soul Fest. This will feature music and poetry from young people followed by a Motown music concert.
ARISE Detroit! also will honor three longtime community activists who are serving as honorary chairs f Neighborhoods Day,Eleanor Josaitis, co-founder of Focus: Hope, streetscape artist Tyree Guyton, creator of the word famous Heidelberg Project, and the legendary Grace Lee Boggs, 96, founder of the Boggs Center, and long known as a crusader for social and human justice.
ARISE Detroit! has partnered with the Mayor's Office of the City of Detroit Catch the Spirit program and the I'm a Believer Campaign to encourage Detroiters and others to participate and volunteer at Neighborhoods Day events.
Neighborhoods Day activities will include:
- Construction of a new home by volunteers with Habitat for Humanity of Detroit.
- Detroit public housing events, inviting residents to participate and volunteer at activities to promote the neighborhood spirit at seven public housing complexes.
- The Gratiot Splash, which will have a symbolic "funeral" to bury violence, horseback rides, health screenings and entertainment for thousands of residents near downtown Detroit.
- Garden planting and the boarding up of vacant housing.
- Renovation of an entire city block of as many as 16 homes by Handyman Ministries and numerous volunteers.
- Numerous health fairs across the city.
- Special tours of the world famous Heidelberg Project, created by urban landscape artist Tyree Guyton.
- Art and music projects, including a music exhibition involving young people building instruments from metal and glass and then performing on them.
- A number of parades and a community service project and display by the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club of Michigan.
- Parades and back to school fairs with neighborhoods groups distributing thousands of back packs and other school supplies to students.
- A number of major festivals throughout the city, including events at Focus: Hope, the Arts League of Michigan, Goodwill Industries of Detroit and at Historic Fort Wayne.
Major sponsors for Neighborhoods Day include the Kresge and Skillman foundations, Huntington Bank, Comerica Bank, United Way of Southeastern Michigan, LISC, AARP, WWJ Radio, Comcast Cable, the Ribs R n B Soul Fest, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan, Waste Management of Michigan, Radio One, DMC-Sinai Grace, Associated Food and Petroleum Dealers, representing 53 independent full service grocery markets in Detroit, ATS Educational Services, Bridgewater Interiors, Hacienda Mexican Foods and the Detroit Regional News Hub. For a complete list of all Neighborhoods Day events and activities, visit www.arisedetroit.org.
Established in 2006, and funded by the Skillman and Kresge foundations, ARISE Detroit! is a coalition of more than 400 community groups, churches, block clubs and businesses promoting volunteerism, community activism and positive media images to create a better Detroit.
For more information on Neighborhoods Day call, 313-921-1955 or visit www.arisedetroit.org. ARISE Detroit! is located at 5830 Field Street, Suite 103, Detroit, Michigan 48213.