Youth face uphill struggle amid Detroit’s troubles, By Corey Williams (AP), October 17, 2009, Washington Post: “Like the rundown houses and shuttered storefronts in his Detroit neighborhood, bleakness abounds in LeRoy Taylor’s future. He is among tens of thousands reaching adulthood in a city where the American Dream appears just outside their reach. Taylor, 20, spends empty hours on basketball courts, zoned out in front of a television or aimlessly pedaling through streets he desperately wants to leave, but doesn’t have the work skills, education or money to do so. ‘I fill out applications. No one will call me back,’ said Taylor, stopping his bike long enough to hustle change for cigarettes near a west side bus stop. ‘It’s useless. It’s real scary.’ Too few jobs are only part of the problems facing youths in this troubled city. Its public high schools are considered among the nation’s worst. Planned budget cuts to the recreation department will reduce hours and slash into staffing. Then there’s crime…”
Tag: Detroit
Access to Fresh Food and Produce – Detroit, MI
State seeds fresh food delivery in Detroit, By Kimberly Hayes Taylor, August 22, 2009, Detroit News: “Imani Abba got choked up Friday as she purchased fruits and vegetables from a delivery truck. ‘We don’t have to go to the liquor stores and get dried-up vegetables,’ said the 54-year-old Detroiter, while taking strawberries, bananas and grapes her excited daughters, granddaughters and great-granddaughter handed off. ‘For a long time, people around here didn’t have fresh food, and there are children around here that just know food from cans.’ The MI (pronounced “my”) Neighborhood Food Movers, a fresh food delivery program that officially launches Tuesday, is designed to change that for some Detroit residents. Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s office has invested $75,000 in seed money for the pilot program, which they plan to develop into a larger initiative that will include urban gardens, more delivery services, cooking classes and other programs…”
Need for Food Assistance – Detroit, MI
Hunger hits Detroit’s middle class, By Steve Hargreaves, August 6, 2009, CNNMoney.com: “On a side street in an old industrial neighborhood, a delivery man stacks a dolly of goods outside a store. Ten feet away stands another man clad in military fatigues, combat boots and what appears to be a flak jacket. He looks straight out of Baghdad. But this isn’t Iraq. It’s southeast Detroit, and he’s there to guard the groceries. ‘No pictures, put the camera down,’ he yells. My companion and I, on a tour of how people in this city are using urban farms to grow their own food, speed off. In this recession-racked town, the lack of food is a serious problem. It’s a theme that comes up again and again in conversations in Detroit. There isn’t a single major chain supermarket in the city, forcing residents to buy food from corner stores. Often less healthy and more expensive food…”