The City of Detroit Department of Public Works is reminding residents the deadline for yard waste collection is this month. Monday, December 13 begins the last two-week cycle for yard waste pickup. The weeks of December 13 and December 20 will be the last collection for Detroiters based on their scheduled yard waste pickup day. Collection for yard waste will not resume until April 2022.

Christmas and New Year’s will not postpone regular trash, recycling and bulk pickup because those holidays are on weekends this year. In addition, collection of Christmas trees will be January 3 to 14.

To find out your scheduled collection dates, visit www.detroitmi.gov and enter your address in the My Home Info field. Residents also can sign up to receive text alert reminders the day before their next scheduled pickup by texting their street address to (313) 800-7905.

ARPA-funded Skills for Life program to pay as many as
2,200 Detroiters to learn new skills, beautify neighborhoods

Mayor Mike Duggan launched Skills for Life, a work/training program designed to pay up to 2,200 Detroiters to learn new job skills and remove educational barriers to employment as they work to make physical improvements to Detroit’s neighborhoods, such as cleaning parks and removing graffiti, trash and overgrowth from the city’s commercial corridors.

The new three-year initiative, which will invest up to $75 million to improve the economic mobility of Detroiters, is the first workforce program to be funded through the City’s allocation of American Rescue Act funds. In October, the City launched the $30-million Renew Detroit program, which will help 1,500 Detroit seniors with critically needed home repairs, including roof replacements. Similar to Renew Detroit, Skills for Life comes as a result of an extensive round of community engagement meetings to identify ARPA spending priorities, and City Council approval.

Through Skills for Life, participating Detroiters will split their time between training and performing work to improve Detroit neighborhoods, such as cleaning up commercial corridors and blighted properties. The first 1,200 participants will work for the City’s General Services Department and the remaining 1,000 positions will be with other City departments with similar workforce needs.

For the full story and to learn how to apply, visit Skills for Life program | City of Detroit (detroitmi.gov)

City, Detroit Pistons and Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation celebrate completion of 26-acre Romanowski Park

Mayor Mike Duggan joined community members and partners, Detroit Pistons and Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, to celebrate the completion of $1.65 million of renovations at Romanowski Park.

For years, Romanowski Park was in disrepair until, in 2018, community engagement began and a new vision for Romanowski was developed. The project was started in response to the failing conditions at the park. The last renovation was about 20 years ago.

The new renovations include a perimeter walking path, new play equipment, picnic tables and benches, and the existing tennis courts were converted into futsal and pickleball courts funded by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The Detroit Pistons also funded resurfacing of the 18-hoop basketball court on the St. John Avenue side of the park; and funding from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation supported restroom and soccer field improvements.

City of Detroit announces $66M redevelopment agreement for vacant American Motors headquarters

The city of Detroit is saying goodbye to another massive vacant eyesore that will be replaced with a newly constructed employment center that will bring at least 150 new construction jobs and over 300 new permanent jobs to the city’s far west side.  The project was announced by Mayor Mike Duggan and officials from NorthPoint Development this week.

The City and Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority recently reached an agreement with Missouri-based NorthPoint Development to demolish the 2-million-square-foot former headquarters of the American Motors Company (AMC), which has sat vacant along Plymouth Road on the city’s west side for more than a decade. In its place will be a new campus comprised of 728,000 square feet of new Class A Industrial Space suitable for a new automotive parts supplier, estimated at a cost of $66 million.

The general footprint of the proposed development site is framed by Plymouth Road on the south, I-96 on the north, Strathmoor to the west and the Conrail tracks behind Shirley Street to the east.

To read the full story, visit Redevelopment agreement for American Motors HQ | City of Detroit (detroitmi.gov)

Mayor Duggan helps African-American developers, community kick off construction on $10.8M mixed-use SNF project in Live6

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and community leaders joined URGE Development Group, N’Namdi Holdings LLC and Hosey Development Dec. 7 kicked off construction of The Sawyer Art Apartments, a $10.8-million, mixed-use development that will include 38 affordable housing units and 6,186 square feet of commercial space. The block-long development is the first ground-up construction of this scale to begin along the city’s recently completed McNichols streetscape, which runs from Livernois to Greenlawn near the Marygrove campus.

The development is part of the Strategic Neighborhood Fund (SNF) initiative, a partnership between the City of Detroit and Invest Detroit.

In addition to the equity generated by the affordable housing and reduced-rate commercial spaces, the three-story, 33,000-square-foot building is expected to create around 100 construction jobs and 25 permanent jobs. The building is expected to be completed in mid-to-late 2023.

To read the full story, visit the City’s website at $10.8M mixed-use SNF project in Live6 | City of Detroit (detroitmi.gov)

Warming Centers Now Open, Recreation Centers and Public Library Branches Serve as Respite Locations

Detroiters who adopt a dog or cat from Detroit Animal Care through Monday, Dec. 20 will not have to pay adoption fees, thanks to a partnership with BISSELL Pet Foundation’s national “Empty the Shelters” program.

Detroit Animal Care is one of 200 shelters in 40 states that will participate in BISSELL Pet Foundation’s “Empty the Shelters” program, which provides generous funding to reduce adoption fees for dogs and cats.

All Detroiters are welcome to come and visit Detroit Animal Care and check out the many dogs and cats in need of a Home for the Holidays. All animals are fully vaccinated, micro-chipped and neutered. They are also available for ‘couch-testing’ and fostering. The shelter is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Detroit Animal Care is located at 7401 Chrysler Drive, Detroit.

For more information on adoption or donation, read the full story at No Adoption or License Fees through December 20th | City of Detroit (detroitmi.gov)

The City of Detroit announced this month it would join other communities from across the nation as part of the Centre for Public Impact (CPI) organization’s inaugural Earned Legitimacy Learning Cohort, committing to better serving all residents.

CPI is an international organization working with local governments to create effective and responsive governance. The City’s Office of Disability Affairs (ODA), a part of the Civil Rights, Inclusion and Opportunity (CRIO) Department, and other City colleagues, are joining a number of community partners, including Detroit Disability Power (DDP), Warriors on Wheels (WOW), Kresge Foundation, and Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network (DWIHN), in working with CPI to build earned legitimacy.

According to CPI, earned legitimacy represents the idea that governments must acknowledge BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other marginalized groups, while demonstrating a commitment to confront the racial justice and civil rights issues in their communities.

Over ten weeks, CPI will serve as a learning partner to Detroit and other participating communities in the Earned Legitimacy Learning Cohort, including Salt Lake City, Utah; Carlton County, Minnesota; and Harris County, Texas.

The program will explore where power sits within each city or county, the history of marginalized communities, and the stereotypes and assumptions associated with them, and move to develop and implement legitimate changes and improvements to help all residents.

Read the full story on the city webpage at City of Detroit joins inaugural Earned Legitimacy Learning Cohort | City of Detroit (detroitmi.gov)