Be A Good Neighbor

n one day, all over Detroit, volunteers will build and repair homes. They will board up vacant buildings, clean streets and plant gardens.

The sixth annual ARISE Detroit! Neighborhoods Day also known as the “Amazing Day for Detroit,” is slated for Aug. 4 and will feature health fairs, festivals and old-fashioned block parties in neighborhoods stretching from the Riverfront to Eight Mile Road.

The event shines a spotlight on work from more than 100 community service and improvement projects. The project was the brainchild of Luther Keith, ARISE Detroit!’s executive director, and it’s obvious he feels pretty good about it. He calls the day, “a spectacular display of community pride and indomitable work ethic by thousands of people who refuse to give up in the face of a city fiscal crisis, a nagging crime problem and negative headlines.”

Established in 2006 with funding from the Skillman Foundation and continued by the Kresge Foundation, ARISE Detroit!-a nonprofit coalition-has grown from 22 founding partners to a coalition of more than 400 organizations promoting volunteerism, community activism and positive media images to create a better Detroit.

“We are about getting people involved,” Keith says. “We encourage media to use Neighborhoods Day to tell the stories of the real unsung heroes of our community who do this work throughout the year. “

Volunteers from block clubs, churches, community groups and businesses already are signing up for the citywide festivities.  For the $50 registration fee, participants receive banners, T-shirts, and marketing support.