Vanguard Camp Positive Influence Showcase

      Last Saturday (August 18th) was Vanguard Community Development Corporation (VCDC)’s annual showcase for the youth of Camp Positive Influence. During the show case youth showed off the skills they learned during their summer camp. The event was also a back to school “block party” for youth where there was food, fun, games, and free back to school supplies for families.

     Camp Positive Influence (P.I.) is typically a 6-8 week program focused on workforce development, entrepreneurship, academic enrichment, community service, and community development. Camp P.I. facilitates youth participants in the development of marketable skills by engaging in positive activities focused on community beautification, digital media, and community awareness.

      The program is intentionally designed to build youth leaders in the North End with principles of new job skills, creative expression and community engagement. In addition, Camp P.I. offers creative workshops such as graffiti, mural design, DJing, and other youth inspired classes. For more information contact DBaul@VanguardCDC.org

Too view more pictures from the showcase click here.

NE Parcel Survey Training

Download PDF of Flier here: NORTH END PARCEL SURVEY TRAINING

W. Philadelphia Back 2 School Extravaganza

Come join the W. Philadelphia Block Club, AmeriCorps Urban Safety Project, WSU Center For Urban Studies, and Focus Hope to help board up two
houses and clear out two vacant lots!

Government Funds to Pay Mortgage

Detroit Non-Profit Housing at 313-972-1111 has government funds to pay the mortgage for three months for a city of Detroit resident who is 1-3 months behind in their mortgage payment and can demonstrate they can sustain the mortgate after the three months of assistance. There is no charge for this assistance.

Important Announcements from CDAD!

CDAD Hires New Executive Director Sarida Scott Montgomery CDAD is very excited to announce that it has hired a full time Executive Director, Sarida Scott Montgomery, who will be starting in September. For the past several years, Ms. Scott has worked as the Chief Program Officer for Michigan Community Resources (MCR), a nonprofit founded to help nonprofit organizations, which has played a vital role in the community development industry with technical and legal assistance. In her capacity at MCR, Ms. Scott oversaw all of the organization’s programs, managed staff and helped fundraise. Ms. Scott has worked closely with CDAD in recent years as a former board member, where she served the organization as Secretary, during a critical time of reorganization and growth. “Professionally and personally I support the efforts to elevate the role of CDOs in current planning and revitalization work in Detroit,” Ms. Scott says, “It will be a challenging and rewarding opportunity to lead CDAD to a position of further growth and prominence.” Ms. Scott’s hiring represents the culmination of a multistage hiring process which was lead by the CDAD board, its members, and the funding community. “I am very proud of this process,” said Scott Alan Davis, CDAD’s chairman, “We engaged the CDAD community, had a great response and were pleased with the quality of candidates. We look forward to working with Sarida.” Before MCR, Ms. Scott worked at the City of Detroit as an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the Law Department and also worked as a staff attorney for the Legal Aid and Defender Association of Detroit. Ms. Scott has a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan..

Pilot Grants Annouced for Strategic Alliance Demonstration Project Finally, it is with incredible excitement that the Strategic Alliance Demonstration Project selection committee has identified three strategic alliances for funding. The primary focus for these alliance is to identify more advanced means of sharing resources, responsibilities, and cost-saving measures that benefit every member of the alliance. These alliances improve the capacity of the community development industry to stabilize Detroit neighborhoods through an innovative partnership between CDAD, the Michigan Nonprofit Association (MNA) and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). The selection committee is proud to award the following sub-grants: Restore Northeast Detroit – NED (Nortown CDC) – $25,000 Lower Eastside Alliance (Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice) – $12,500 Bridging Communities, Inc. – $12,500

CDAD Office Move With the prospects of a growing staff, CDAD is looking to expand its offices at Orchestra Place, where it currently shares a small office within the University of Michigan Detroit Center. For the past two years, CDAD been located at the Detroit Center, on the ground floor of 3663 Woodward Avenue. The move is anticipated to take place in the next month. Our partnership with University of Michigan will continue as CDAD moves to Suite 120, located on the north side of the building. CDAD’s new director and additional staff will occupy about one thousand square feet of space in larger offices, alongside open meeting rooms. All committee meetings will be coordinated out of suite 120, while larger meetings, such as the bi-monthly membership meetings, will continue to be held in the Ann Arbor room of UofM Center. While the address will remain, please look out for any changes regarding other contact information. We look forward to serving you!

RALLY FOR HOME OWNERSHIP 2012

Friday, July 20th please come to Vanguard CDC to hear about Project Home Ownership and Vanguard CDC’s new subsidiary Vanguard Lending Solutions. The launch is at Vanguard CDC, located at 2785 East Grand Boulevard, at 10:00 a.m. and the rally is at Garden View Estates, located at 16500 Tireman, at 11 a.m.  Transportation is provided.   Get in the know for home ownership and join Vanguard at the Project Home Ownership Rally. Lunch and give-a-ways will be provided.  For more information and a seat on the bus, please call Vanguard CDC at 313.872.7831.

 

Agenda

-10:00 – 10:45am: information about Vanguard CDC’s homeownership program, loan products, etc.

-10:45am: Participants will be bussed to Garden View Estates

-11:15am – 1:30pm: Rally for Home Ownership at Garden View Estates: will include lunch and giveaways along with information for prospective homeowners

-2:00/2:15pm: we arrive back at Vanguard CDC

Since there is a 50 Participants limit, we need to ask people to sign up, and let us know how many people they are coming with.

If you believe that new home construction and home ownership is the backbone of our national economy and our nation’s development, then plan on attending the Rally for Home Ownership!

On July 20, 2012, the NAHB, in conjunction with MAHB and HBAs across the state of Michigan will hold a Rally for Home Ownership in southeastern Michigan. This event is associated with the MAHB Summer Convention in Dearborn and all HBA members statewide are encouraged to attend both the summer convention and the Rally for Home Ownership. This event is being held to raise awareness of the importance of housing to Michigan’s economy and the benefits of homeownership, especially as it pertains to the renewal and rejuvenation of major cities in our state. This is a unique opportunity for BIA members to help make home ownership a top priority for policymakers by highlighting the housing challenges facing communities across America.

We expect the event will attract 500 – 700 people and will include invitations to a number of local, state and national officials — including President Obama and  Republican candidate hopeful Mitt Romney. Several have already confirmed attendance. The Detroit Rally will be the second of rallies planned for seven states between July and October, 2012.  All are being modeled after the Columbia, S.C., rally held in January. VIEW VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS HERE.

Date:  Friday, July 20, 2012
Time:  Estimated between 11 am to 1:30 pm.
Location:  Garden view Estates

The Garden view Estates, where the Rally will be held, is a great example of how terrific partnerships between city, state and federal agencies can positively impact a neighborhood and the quality of life of its residents. (Garden view Estates is located south of Joy Road, north of Tire man and east of the Southfield Freeway in the Detroit Area.

Grants, Rebates and Financing Available for your Business or Nonprofit

BSC Grand Woodward Community Meeting

Vacant Property Coalition Meeting, Tuesday June 12th

NEXT MEETING WILL BE HELD:

Tuesday, June 12^th, 6-8PM

RSVP to Janai Gilmore – Jgilmore@MI-Community.org

 

• LOCATION: St. Matthew’s/ St. Joseph’s
• 8850 Woodward Ave Detroit, MI

 

PURPOSE: Ellis Stafford and Ron Reddy of the Detroit Crime Commission, and Matthew Bihun from the Southwest Detroit Business Association will join us for a discussion of new code enforcement initiatives underway in Detroit.

 

The upcoming Vacant Property Coalition meeting, which will take place on Tuesday, June 12, 2012 from 6-8pm at 8850 Woodward, will provide residents with an overview of the basic principles of code enforcement and nuisance actions, specifically within the context of Detroit. Furthermore, it will educate residents and community groups of the role that they play in addressing nuisances and code violations (i.e. observing, reporting, being persistent) and also the role that government plays in this process.

 

Ellis Stafford, Ron Reddy will share information regarding their organization’s unique approach to pursuing accountability from negligent property owners through nuisance actions. In addition, Matthew Bihun will discuss his organization’s participation in two nuisance suits.

 

 If you have any questions about the context of this meeting please  contact

Janai Gilmore  at 313 969 7156 or jgilmore@mi-community.org.

Grand Opening of New North End businesses – John R. Row – June 2nd!

Please join us in welcoming 2 new North End businesses opening Saturday, June 2nd from 10am to 8pm @ 9405 John R and then two more scheduled for July/2012.

John R. Row, located at 9405 John R Street, between Westminster & Kenilworth, just north of E. Grand Blvd and just east of Woodward in historic North End; will be a 4,000 square foot space that will incorporate 4 local businesses  and employ approximately 20-25 local residents. The overall building design by Steven Harris (Central District resident) will have a 103-‘s Detroit theme with large storefront glass windows, a historical color palette, canvas awnings and gooseneck light fixtures. In the adjacent vacant lots, visitors will be allowed to enjoy a cool green open space that was created by Next Detroit.

For more information please contact Steven L. Harris, Operations Manager at O’Brien Edwards Construction. He can be reached at (313) 841-0000 or at sharris@obecc.com.