Honorsfinalpaper

Heverly, Kabalan, Nizam, Zunnu Rain 1
Reversing Detroit Neighborhood Health
PS 1010
Dr. Montgomery
4/25/2014
Lauren Heverly
Bana Kabalan
Manal Nizam
Mariam Zunnu Rain

Table of Contents:
Abstract
Introduction
Race, Barriers & Problems:
Problem at the Federal Level
Problem at a State Level
Problem at the Local Level
Clark Park
History of Clark Park
Site Assessment
Current Solutions at Clark Park
Our Solutions
Art Therapy
Greenhouse
Conclusion:
Abstract
Neighborhood health is a major issue in Detroit, especially in Southwest Detroit,
because of barriers stemming from race and class differences, a lack of institutions, and
modernity. The problems in Detroit such as blight, crime, and poverty are causing physiological
and psychological stress on the citys neighborhoods. To fix the Clark Park in southwest Detroit
and to counter the barriers posed by inadequate funding, the Clark Park Coalition is working
with several organizations such as Healthy Detroit to provide an effective solution. This will help
create the sense of community the neighborhood desperately needs. As a group we are planning
to implement two plans, art therapy and a greenhouse, through Healthy Detroit as part of the
Clark Park Initiative starting May 17th.

Introduction
A run-down, crime-ridden, and abandoned neighborhood is the place a majority of
Detroit citizens have been calling home since the citys decline decades ago. High levels of
toxicity found in Detroits neighborhoods induces a poisoning of these citizens mind, body and
spirits, thus creating a continuous cycle of destruction between the exterior and interior
environment of individuals. According to the Journal of Health and Social Behavior,
environmental stressors, specifically neighborhood disorder, results in psychological stress
responses such as depression and fearful anxiety which leads to physiological distress that
negatively alters health. To completely and efficiently better the state of Detroits health in the
best possible method, the triggering factors of neighborhood disorder must be fully defined and
eliminated through holistic community participation. Deteriorating neighborhood health in
Detroit, especially southwest Detroit, is caused by the presence of persistent psychological and
physical discords that can be best alleviated by neighborhood unity and collective community
healing. Catalysts that cause disorder and damage health in Detroit neighborhoods include
barriers due to the external structures of race and class as well as lack of institutions,
disproportionate legitimate power at the federal and state levels resulting in more
disadvantageous policies than beneficial, and elements of modernity through psychological
individualism from the community.
Problems intro
The city of Detroit faces a tough challenge due to a multitude of long-existing
complicated problems that have still not been fully solved. Health is a good, just like national
security and clean water, that is currently not being purchased or administered at the most
possible cost-effective value (Woolf, 1). Citizens of the world, especially those in Detroit, are
posed with the threat of unfair value with their health due to the current focus of medical care on
tertiary prevention - the act of avoiding or decreasing complications of illness through treatment
after it has been developed. Rather the target should be on primary prevention - the most
beneficial element of health care through modifying unhealthy behaviors such as smoking and
physical inactivity, administering immunizations, and reducing environmental factors that pose a
threat on health and well being (Woolf, 3). Unhealthy lifestyles all around America stem from
internal decisions of poor diet, physical inactivity, tobacco use, and alcohol misuse as well as
external structures such as housing, transportation, education, workplaces and environment
(National Prevention Strategy,1, 2011). In a city where many barriers are faced due to these
external structures being incredibly limited, broken down, or too costly to be afforded by a
majority of its citizens, it is expected for health in Detroit to be severely altered negatively.
Legitimized governmental power as well as non-governmental institutions provide funding and
reparative work on health in Detroit, but past solutions have been scattered throughout Detroit or
have been short-term, rather than pinpointing one specific area and permanently restoring it to its
full potential (Mukhtar). Through a transition from the current system of sick care to one of
wellness and prevention, the destructive cycle initiated by the outside-in can be reversed through
internal growth that leads to environmental repair of the community.
Race, Barriers & Problems
Various external structures divide the population of the world based on characteristics
such as race, ethnicity, and class. While this provides for an interesting blend of diversity,
variations in external structures have also been proven to evoke segregated internal values that
cause barriers on accepting this diversity. Integration of blacks into Detroits neighborhoods has
a long history of failure which leads to the citys collapse through neighborhood disorder. The
inability to live happily amongst ones neighbor, due to skin color, has always been a severe
barrier throughout the history of Detroit and therefore results in negative stereotypes and dismay
towards blacks. This refusal of coexisting with one another has, and still, promotes abandonment
and neglect of the citys neighborhoods resulting in neighborhood disorder through health
disparities and the lack of health institutions/resources for healthy living.
As blacks massively began to migrate to the North in the 1940s in search for factory jobs,
they had to face unfair segregation with living conditions and overall discrimination. White
communities made certain that no blacks spilled onto the West Side of the Black Bottom - a
dividing line made by whites segregating 200,000 black residents into 60 square blocks of
unsanitary and crowded housing projects such as the Brewster Project. An attempt at integrating
blacks through the Sojourner Truth Housing Project into an all-white community only provoked
more racial tensions that lead to the racial riot of 1943, a riot so bloody that legitimization of
using the U.S Troops to stop the fight was necessary. Afterwards, Governor Kelly appointed a
committee to investigate the cause and nature of the incident but they quickly concluded in a
manner that laid the blame on the citys black population (American Experience, 1). This led
to more justification of the negative ways of seeing the black population that existed which only
caused problems and violence, therefore resulting in the desire to dissociate from those people.
As John Berger says, we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves with
the notion of how we see things being predetermined by our own internal structures (Berger,
1973, 156). This leads to mystification of how one subject can be perceived differently by many.
The mystification in the case of racial tension in Detroit is manifested through the certainty of
whites determining that blacks are the only ones to blame due to their closed-minded
understanding of the situation. This caused the eventual downfall of the city through mass
abandonment and blight resulting in neglect of social order within Detroit.
Detroit is the most American city, and since the city is a classic way of seeing, studying
Detroit helps us answer an important question: what should we do? This shows how ways of
seeing are active and reciprocal. So since ways of seeing leads to experience and experience
leads to ways of seeing, seeing becomes a map. In this manner, ways of seeing lead to urban
form, in other words our current cities, which raises three classical questions. Who are we?
Where are we going? What should we do? In relation to Detroit, answering the first two is easy.
We are, or were, Detroiters. We are either staying in Detroit because we dont have the money to
leave, or we have left a long time ago. The last question, what should we do, can be answered
after analyzing three transformations that changed the urban form of Detroit which, according to
historian Thomas J. Sugrue, are flight of jobs, persistent racial discrimination, and residential
segregation by race (Sugrue).
The flight of jobs occurred because of the formation of the highways, which allowed
people to access suburbs. Thus, factories and jobs spread from Detroit to these suburbs where
people did not need to pay city taxes. But this was just a small part of decentralization as it was
mainly furthered by race issues. According to a New York Times article, Strikes, inspired by
union negotiations and a refusal by blacks and whites to work side by side, were halting
progress, according to "Detroit, Race and Uneven Development," co-written by Joe T. Darden.
Factories were built in the suburbs and in neighboring states so that if there was a protest in one
factory, work could still continue elsewhere. But as the factories spread out, so too did the job
opportunities. These persistent race issues strengthened the movement of people to the suburbs
which caused a polycentric city to form (American Urban Form, 15). This polycentric city
created a deeply segregated metro Detroit area which still exists today, with the suburbs hosting
more privileged racial and class statuses. Even though the U.S. Constitution guarantees everyone
democratic social space as citizens can expect the same treatment and goods regardless of where
they are on American soil. But unfortunately the social space is different from the city to suburb
in metro Detroit as the opportunities for those that are racially and economically on the lower
end do not receive the same treatment as the people who are living in suburbs like Bloomfield
Hills, Michigan (where the median household income is more than $125,000) (Stiglitz).
Modernity and external structure barriers of race and class are interrelated through
psychological means where an alienation between the "I" and the "We" is formed. By thinking
individualistically, barriers are created causing social problems and disconcern for others to arise
within neighborhoods, therefore transcending into adverse health effects. This is seen with the
issue of external structures of race that is mentioned earlier, where an individuals way of seeing
their environment is through mystified belief of superiority over another race that justifies their
alienation rather than cooperation from the community, leading to traveling to the polycentric
city.
Barriers with differences in race and class causes health deterioration both directly and
indirectly. Indirectly, the act of whites increasing the line of demographic division between
blacks from East to West Detroit to the larger separation from the core city to the peripheral
cities has affected health care in Detroit adversely. Through mass blight and neglect of the city,
social disorder in neighborhoods has risen due to lack of concern for crimes and vandalism
occurring. As stated earlier, the effect of environmental stressors plays a fundamental role on the
physiological and psychological health of stress victims, therefore proving that discrimination of
race provides extreme results. Direct effects of race relates to the population of Detroit is 82%
black and a majority of suburbans is white (Oakland County, one of the richest counties of the
nation, is 77% white and 14% black) (US Census Bureau, 2013). As seen in Table 1: Health
Disparities in Michigan, 2009, (the most recent report done by the Michigan Department of
Community Health) of almost all the indicators of disease, mortality and illness African
Americans have the highest, such as overall mortality rate being 1,041.7 versus whites with
768.5, and HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of 575 for blacks and 67 for whites (2009 Health
Disparities Report, 2010, 4). This data therefore illuminates the extent of health disparities
especially in Detroit in comparison to the rest of Michigan, where one population group does not
benefit from the same health status as other groups due to higher incidences of mortality or lower
survival rates (The Office of Health Communication, 1). Lack of attention and acceptance
towards living in a diverse community results in a large imbalance of racial health disparity.
Due to the neglect and abandonment of Detroit caused by racial and class segregation
there is a wide absence of institutions in the city which would enable Detroiters to live healthier.
The specific institutions the motor city lacks today includes a sufficient amount of gyms,
transportation around the city, and grocery stores supplying healthy foods. Throughout the entire
city of Detroit there are about 20 gyms, of which over half are concentrated downtown, but
considering that the majority of Detroiters live in neighborhoods outside of the downtown area
these gyms do not benefit most Detroiters, especially without sufficient transportation and a lack
of funds to spend on a gym membership. Transportation in itself is a second scarce institution as
most poorer Detroiters use the DDOT bus to travel throughout the city which does not run
constant hours and isnt a safe way to maneuver through the city. Besides the deficiency of gyms
and transportation, Detroits most significant lack of health institutions concerns the absence of
grocery stores providing fresh foods in the city. While there is an abundance of liquor stores, gas
stations, and fast food restaurants that all sell cheap fatty food, there is a scarcity of healthy,
fresh, and energizing foods. Although one of the best farmers markets in the country, Eastern
Market, is in the city it is only open on Tuesday and Saturday mornings, but not all Detroiters
can afford transportation to this market. If Detroiters dont have the transportation to grocery
stores and markets with these wholesome foods then the only option they are left with is to
consume the cheaper fatty calorie ridden foods, damaging their health and bodies.
Problem at the Federal Level
Liberalism is a problem at the federal level that is affecting the way the government
spends on healthcare. According to Keeping the Republic, liberalism is when the people trust the
government in order to expand the rights of the people. Liberalism is used to expand the scope of
the government, especially when it comes to health care. Thus, programs that the government
has made include Affordable Care Act and the National Prevention Strategy.
The United States government has various programs in effect to oversee the health care
of its citizens which include Medicare, Medicaid, and the relatively new Affordable Care Act.
Medicare is defined as the federal health insurance program for people who are 65 or older,
certain younger people with disabilities, and people with End-Stage Renal Disease (Affordable
Care Act's 10 Essential Health Benefits - AARP). This is available to all people over 65 and
unlike Medicaid, regardless of how wealthy the recipient is. Medicaid, on the other hand, is a
social welfare program that poses as a type of health insurance for those at or below the poverty
line and is provided to about 30 million people. This program is a redistributive policy as it helps
the disadvantaged people in the society (Keeping the Republic, 30). It is very important for us to
understand this program as it has a great impact on neighborhood health care as 15% of
Americans live in poverty according to a 2012 survey done by the U.S. Census Bureau. This is
the latest census from them on poverty in America, showing the limited availability of data as the
demographics of poverty shift very fast especially in a city like Detroit. Also about 38.1% of the
people in Detroit live in poverty according to city census data from 2008-2012. The reason that
Medicaid does not provide adequately for the people in poverty is because the recipients need to
be 133% under the federal poverty level (Affordable Care Act's 10 Essential Health Benefits -
AARP). This limits the scope of the Medicaid program. Also, those who do receive Medicaid
do not necessarily have sufficient access to health care because many health care providers do
not accept Medicaid patients (the New England Journal of Medicine) . .
To expand who gets treatment and healthcare, President Barack Obama put into action
the Affordable Care Act, also called ObamaCare. There are many benefits of Obamacare to
individuals and business owners. First of all, on the individual level Obamacare has eliminated
the lifetime limits on most medical expenses. It also stops insurers from raising premiums or
cutting coverage once a patient gets suck. It also protects the patient from having their coverage
denied because they have a preexisting condition. It also allows children to stay on their parents
insurance until the age of 26. This is especially useful for college students trying to make ends
meet. Obamacare also caps out of pocket health care expenses to approximately $6,400 for
individuals, and $12,800 for families. The Affordable Care Act also expands Medicaid to cover
more people and covers mental health services, makes emergency care easier, forces insurers to
cover hospitalization, covers long-term illness therapies, covers more pediatric care, covers more
dental care, and covers prenatal car. The Affordable Care Act also ensures that the 50 preventive
services outlined by the U.S Preventive Services Task Force will be covered completely (Lalli).
By providing all these preventive services, Obamacare poses as a safety net that helps low
income citizens to receive health care and lift themselves out of poverty
The problem with ObamaCare is that one of its goals is to provide for 15 million more
people with Medicaid. Avik Roy from the Manhattan Institute calls Medicaid junk care
because it is not accepted widely which doesnt allow the patient to get preventive care properly.
Also Medicaid does not work properly because the states are not allowed to modify the program
to fit their states needs. Thus the national government micromanages the way the states utilize
the money that is allocated for Medicaid. In the end it is found that the U.S spends $8,508 on
healthcare per capita, which is more than any other average in adults surveyed from countries
such as Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Switzerland,
with New Zealand and Switzerland at half as much, causing there to clearly be an insufficient
balance in the limit and power of the government in regards to how healthcare is treated in the
United States (U.S. Health).
These policies also disregard treatment for measures to avoid health issues in the first
place, only adequately achieved with changes in ones environment and lifestyle. Medicaid and
the Affordable Care Act only focuses on secondary prevention through treatment of symptoms
after the disease has settled in, or tertiary prevention where expensive and sometimes unuseful
scanning may be done to see if there is a problem before it accelerates. Therefore primary
prevention is not accomplished and therefore there is a constant spending of money, whether
from citizens own pockets or government taxing, for treatment rather than providing a
sustainable, healthy lifestyle (Woolf, 1). Even with all the policies instituted by the federal
government that is attempting to rush in a large wave of funding for the poor and needy, without
a doubt there will still be neighborhoods in Detroit that will be forgotten about, causing a lack of
change in health overall.
Problem at the State Level
At a state level, there are several policies and programs affecting the health care of its
residents that are administered by the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH -
2013) to solve these problems including the Healthy Michigan Plan and the various forms of the
Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC - 2011). The Healthy Michigan Plan is a response to
the federal Affordable Care Act. Because Michigan accepted ObamaCare under the pretenses
that it would save the state over $1.3 billion in a decade and would provide the uninsured with
health care, Governor Snyder signed the Healthy Michigan Plan on September 16th 2013 in
order to expand the Medicaid eligibility (MDCH - Medicaid Expansion). The plan allows for
cost sharing with the recipients of Medicaid. This means that the currently uninsured will be able
to receive medical attention but will be given the option to contribute slightly (an average of $2
per doctor visit), which is called a co-pay. Enrollees to the plan that make between 100%-133%
of the federal poverty line will have to pay 2% of their income towards a health savings account.
This percentage is not supposed to go over 7% in the next few years (Erb, Michiganders). By
examining the Healthy Michigan Plan, there are two separate outcomes. The first is that the
current, uninsured people will be able to receive healthcare and Michigan as a state will save a
massive amount of money that they can use towards other things such as education and the
renovation of parks and health centers. The other effect will be that those who can currently
afford insurance will either choose to switch to the free Medicaid or continue with their current
health care insurance. These people will have to pay higher taxes regardless of their decision in
order for those uninsured to gain access to health care. This seems like it may not be such a bad
idea, however, Medicaid has never provided people with substantial health care in the past.
Medicaid is sufficient for people going for a yearly check-up, but cannot pay for the treatment
for everybody's diseases and illnesses. It is, however, good for preventative purposes and for
diagnosing health issues early in patients. Another less controversial solution on a state level are
the Federally Qualified Health Centers in Michigan.
There are several types of health centers in Michigan that provide for those who do not
have adequate health care. There are three different types of FQHCs in Michigan which are
Community Health Centers (CHCs), Migrant Health Centers (MHCs), and Health Care for the
Homeless (HCH) Centers. These centers provide health care for those who cannot afford it, are
homeless, or do not have access to a doctor. There are seven HCH centers that provide for over
18,000 homeless people in Michigan and several MHCs and CHCs that provide for rural
communities that have a lack of medical equipment and hospitals (Federally Qualified Health
Centers: An Overview). This is an effective way to provide healthcare to those in need of it,
however, the setback is that they are funded by the state government and are not adequate for
people with severe illnesses. In general, health care on a state level does not provide for those
who need extensive care for illnesses such as cancer and heart disease. So far there is not enough
money or time to provide for people who do not have access to adequate health care. Both of
these are structures in the agencies that are currently working to try to resolve issues for poverty
stricken areas in Michigan, but seem to unfortunately fail to attend to the needs of solving health
disparities with minorities mainly found in broken neighborhoods.
Problem at the Local Level
On a local concern just involving the city of Detroit, there have been multiple
attempts to reverse the deteriorating health of Detroit neighborhoods. However the large majority
of these have not been designed to effectively change the city. Rather than trying to conquer the
entire city at once, new plans have been recently developed by the Detroit Department of
Neighborhoods and the current mayor of Detroit, Mike Duggan, to tackle blight and the
cleanliness of neighborhoods one district at a time. The department divides Detroit into 7
districts, allowing efforts to be completely focused on a particular smaller section of the city
since the entire city of Detroit is too large to not break down into smaller efforts, as seen in
previous failed attempts to expunge blight in the city. A current plan using this division is
Detroit Future City, which revolves around the idea of eliminating blight-filled neighborhoods
and replacing them with parks and urban farming. The goal is to create an attractive model city
for other cities in the United States to follow, rather than create the opposite which is Detroits
current situation. A second current neighborhood reform effort is mayor Mike Duggans Every
Neighborhood has a Future proposal which is a ten part plan to mainly eliminate blight and land
concerns regarding strictly Detroit. Both Detroit Future City and Duggans proposal are quite
similar in the problems that they are attacking and are new as of the end of 2013/beginning of
2014. Detroit wont know if these plans are the final solution to the citys destruction, however
once implemented alongside with other solutions, improvements should slowly appear.
Clark Park
The problem of neighborhood health exists today in Detroit because of persistent race
and class issues, liberalism, and modernity. All of these issues that degredate neighborhood
health exist in Southwest Detroit, especially around the Clark Park area. Since this is the case,
many people are using Southwest Detroit to put into motion untried solutions to solve problems,
including neighborhood health. First of all, Southwest Detroit, also known as Mexicantown, has
a very diverse community but the people do not come together often. Additionally, many people
in the community are struggling with poverty or low finances and they cannot afford proper
health care, while many other people are well off. Last August an $11 million condo
development was going on in that area, while new homes were being built (Llenas). This shows
how class is also divided in Mexicantown. Thus, the lower end of the community is greatly
affected and aided by programs like Obamacare and the National Prevention Strategy. The
Southwest region also has problems with blight and abandonment, a problem for which the
whole of Detroit is seeking a cure. Because of these reasons, Detroits Southwest region would
make an excellent pilot site for testing out new solutions.
Southwest Detroit is a place that is breaking the trend of segregation in Detroits
neighborhoods. This part of Detroit is populated by 50% hispanic population, 25% black, 25%
white, and 5% middle eastern. According to an article, The typical businesses that drop out of
low-income neighborhoods, banks and insurance companies, weve got them all, Wellner told
Fox News Latino, adding that Hispanic immigrants have always been a major part of Michigans
second largest business, agriculture. Waves of immigrants was the asset in Detroit and is the
asset now. (Llenas). Governor Rick Snyder has noted that the waves of immigrants are
helping Detroit grow and thus in January he unveiled a plan to put into action an immigration
policy to bring in 50,000 skilled employees for the next five years (Michigan.gov). This is useful
as a third of the hi tech companies created in Michigan in the last decade were all founded by
immigrants. If Governor Snyders plan is passed, it will be useful in attracting new skilled
Hispanic immigrants into Detroit that will help diversify the city, and bring businesses and
money into the city as well. As mentioned above, Hispanic people have a huge hand in the
agricultural industry of Detroit. Thus, through Snyders plan there is a chance of bringing more
Hispanic people to Detroit that will open up businesses, including agricultural businesses, thus
helping neighborhood health by bringing money and food to neighborhoods.
Southwest Detroit has a head start in recovery and prosperity, following the paths of
Midtown Detroit and Corktown. The difference with Southwest Detroit is the high range of
diversity that already exists in the area, allowing for integration of people of different external
structures such as race, ethnicity, class and religion. Although there is a melting pot of people
living in the neighborhoods of Southwest Detroit this does not mean that a unified communal
setting already exists. To tackle this problem, a community town center where neighbors of all
ages, races, and other factors can come together is necessary to be constructed to allow for
healthy acceptance and assimilation of health-conscious activities. Through the participation of
all people working together for the common goal of growing and prospering a particular area,
feelings of safety, trust and compassion for one another will rise, therefore resulting in comfort at
the psychological realm. This then will dissolve psychological strains that can lead to
physiological health damage, while simultaneously fixing the neighborhoods that will eventually
reduce environmental stresses and lead to a sustainable, healthy lifestyle.
An excellent basis for Detroit to build off on is the New Urbanism movement that
focuses on unconventional urban city planning that reintroduces city living through redefining
the urban rather than suburban environment in a more appealing method. The idea of New
Urbanism completely fits with the structure of having a community town center. Through a
greener and safe walkable urban setting, New Urbanism erases and eliminates crime-ridden,
broken down cities while simultaneously appealing to people as a new and exciting city they
want to live in again. And as history has shown in the past, once the city becomes appealing to
the masses, people flock to live there. (What Can We Learn From New Urbanism, 1) This
movement boomed in the 80s and 90s In doing this, New Urbanism intertwines elements of the
City Beautiful and City Practical through reintroducing traditional elements of neighborhood
design such as having walkable neighborhoods around a five-minute walk, more integration of
different types of land uses in neighborhoods, higher usage of parks that are reachable by
walking or bicycle, and building environmentally friendly and public healthy infrastructure.
According to the Congress for New Urbanism, the mission of New Urbanist environments is to
Change the practices and standards of urban design and development to support healthy regions
and diverse, complete neighborhoods (CNU Strategic Plan, 2011).
New Urbanism in action is currently being developed in the area of Stapleton Denver,
Colorado with the Stapleton Plan. Stapleton currently is a community thats human-scaled rather
than car-scaled to create a place where all types of people can exist happily, synergistically,
together. This is done through the creation of a close-knit community where sidewalks are
extended, roads are narrowed and being outside as much as possible is encouraged. The plan is to
create public art, summer concerts and markets as well as development of pride for the home and
neighborhood. (Stapleton Denver, 2014).
Through following New Urbanism, the psychological aspects of Modernity will be
reversed into thinking of the we rather than the I due to interaction with neighbors of various
races, classes, ages and more. These fundamental principles of the New Urbanism movement can
be incredibly beneficial for the overall health and mentality of neighborhoods in Detroit if
implemented. According to AMO, one must look through a telescope and then a microscope
especially when going about solving large-scale problems. To do so, a New Urbanism mentality
should be used to form the structure of a specific region of Southwest Detroit allowing the
neighborhood to prosper and grow. To initiate the plan and truly understand the implications of
replanning an urban city, a park should be used to create a microcosm version of a New Urbanist
utopia. A park contains the elements of the movement that are most strived for such as
transportation through foot (which will assist in health and friendly relationships with
neighbors), focus on a community center to alleviate psychological alienation and restore
kinship, and linking the urban environment to nature.
Clark Park is a great spot for the creation of a community town center and is already
underway of being the first pilot site by the National Prevention Strategy, led by Clark Park
Coalition and governed by an organization called Healthy Detroit. This neighborhood will be a
model not only for the rest of Detroit, but for the entire country by working collectively with the
National Prevention Strategy (NPS).The goal of NPS is to integrate cooperation of the
government at the federal, state and local level as well as citizens and volunteer organizations.
This is the first policy in the history of the United States that will be engaging both sides of the
spectrum through legitimization of power that will be backed up by the people. The NPS is
designed to tackle seven core issues including prevention of drug abuse and excessive alcohol
use, healthy eating, active living, reproductive and sexual health, and mental and emotional
well-being (National Prevention Strategy, 2014). Healthy Detroit is working based on the
structure of the NPS through the creation of innovative plans for Clark Park. Their plans seem
promising in improving the well-being of Detroit as it does not solely target providing resources
for immediate care, but also encourages the long term maintenance of healthy living and
preventative care with education, exercise, and creative means.The overall long term goal is to
create a social movement of Healthy is Cool to the youth of Detroit by providing as many fun
activities as well as healthy resources to the communities of the city. Therefore this mentality
will transcend into future generations, resulting in the rise of Detroit once again through more
healthy means. The initiation of this new movement will be through the Clark Park Initiative
which is a plan that focuses on a single neighborhood of southwestern Detroit. They plan on
having May 17 be their kickoff for their weekly Saturday events at Clark Park (Mukhtar). Our
group plans on tackling the issues of Detroit hand in hand with the holistic organization of
Healthy Detroit by running a weekly program, therefore allowing us to submerge ourselves in
the gradual improvement and health of Detroit. Through planning to help Detroit in this manner,
we have taken the time to understand the existing problems, agencies and structures of our
problem to better prepare ourselves to tackle the issues of health and well-being of the people of
Detroit, especially those situated in the Southwest around Clark Park.
History of Clark Park

According to Ruben Gonzales, our Clark Park guide, the park was donated to the city of
Detroit by John P. Clark in 1879. Clark park was originally created to be a community center
where people could enjoy the fresh air and the culture of Detroit at the same time. It was
supposed to be prosperous and attract people to the area, however, its history is laced with
tragedy. The area was at one time beautiful and filled with people. Ruben said that I would have
been in jail... if not for Clark Park. However, as Detroits economic situation worsened, the park
became a last priority to the city and in 1991, it was shut down due to of lack of funding and
abandonment. This caused distress on the people living around the area, so the Clark Park
Coalition was created by volunteers to reopen the park and keep it maintained. The coalition is
still running the park today and although it has an extreme lack of funding, it is doing the best it
can. In 2002, a plan was formed to renovate the park and the buildings inside of it. The first
phase of the plan was to create a fish pond out of the natural beaver pond in the center of the
park. The beaver pond was cemented over then filled with water and colorful fish. The next day,
after the pond was complete, it was found that the cement had been toxic and the fish had all
died. This carelessness was displayed through the renovations that were expressed in the plan,
and soon, the renovation was abandoned (Ruben 2014).
Another incident pertaining to the blight and crime all around the area is the fate of the
large, once standing gazebo. In the past, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra used to hold practices
at the gazebo and people could relax and enjoy the music. However, the gazebo was destroyed
because it became a symbol of crime and blight after a girl was murdered on the same steps
beautiful music played. After that, the Orchestra never returned to practice in Clark Park.
Although the area had a misfortunate past, and improvements are needed, through learning from
failed attempts in making Clark Park a thriving community town center and trying again at a
more intense and planned scale, a permanent solution definitely seems promising (Ruben 2014).
Site Assessment
After visiting our site on numerous occasions we became aware of what the Clark Park
environment consists of and discovered the basic site needs of the park. Clark Park is
conveniently located just off of the Fisher Freeway in southwest Detroit and is surrounded by
multiple active institutions, including two elementary schools (Maybury Elementary & Amelia
Earhart Elementary-Middle) and a high school (Western International). Although the park is
found in one of the more bustling areas of Detroit there are multiple improvements and
necessities that the site requires in order to continue attracting a healthy community and in turn
create healthier surrounding neighborhoods. The park is an enormous 30 acres, providing much
land to develop a unique variety of healthy attractions throughout the property. One day while
assessing our site we coincidentally crossed the executive director of Healthy Detroit, Anthony,
who had been ironically taking notes on the park himself. After wandering through the entire
park with Anthony we became more familiar with what needs Clark Park currently requires. The
needs range from basic cleanup to more complex involvement, planning and renovating. Basic
cleanup of the site consists of removing dead flower beds, planting new flowers, adding wood
chips to the playground, painting fencing, and installing small equipment such as swings that
have disappeared. Although these are smaller needs that dont require an enormous amount of
labor, they are actually the more vital of the needs because of the overall attractiveness that these
fixes provide to Clark Park; people do not want to visit an outdated, run-down, and
rough-looking park. More complex necessities include the elimination of the many abandoned
buildings and vacant homes near the park to decrease fear and increase comfort in the area. The
creation of more community sports teams in order to use the many facilities within Clark Park
and require community members to come together as a whole, which is a need in its own. The
site includes many sport facilities, including tennis courts, three baseball diamonds donated by
the citys own Miguel Cabrera, and the full-size ice rink which sits unused due to a lack of
attention and cleanup. With three busy schools bordering the property, all of these facilities could
be easily used year-round by students, providing healthy activity and bringing the diverse
community together for a common cause. One of the most complex and threatening issues facing
Clark Park is the pollution that fills the air that those living in and near the park breathe due to its
proximity to Detroits Ambassador Bridge, an international bridge with hundreds of trucks
crossing the border daily and polluting the air with heavy smoke. The polluted air is obviously
damaging and threatening to southwest Detroiters (of which Clark Park neighborhood members
are included) as University of Michigan research has found that southwest Detroit is the most
polluted area in all of the state, as well as having one of the highest asthma rates (Michigan.gov).
A last need, and one of the most important, is the urgency for higher Clark Park community
involvement from those living around the park. The park is the perfect place to bring neighbors
together and develops a sense of family throughout the community, a necessity because this
allows members to feel welcomed and safer. Without the bond, families may move out of the
area which only leads to further damage to the community.
Current Solutions at Clark Park
Most of the barriers at Clark Park deal with poverty and a lack of institutions. Poverty is a
large economic barrier that persists in Detroit, which directly relates to the problems of Clark
Park. Clark Park is in need of renovations and new equipment that can only be implemented
through adequate funding. Poverty is directly related to crime and blight initiated by racial
segregation. Because of the poverty barrier, another barrier at the park is crime. Because things
such as copper in drinking fountains are stolen so frequently, new equipment and institutions are
usually not installed in or around the area, which leads to the lack of institutions and structures
such as gyms and grocery stores. To break these barriers that prevent the park from becoming
more successful, the Clark Park Coalition is teaming up with different organizations to repair all
of the problems within the park from the ground up.
The first method of creating community unity the Coalition engaged in was to
create quarterly neighborhood meetings for those who live around the area, want to volunteer, or
can in any way contribute to the well being of the community and the park. The first meeting
started off with a barbeque and a potluck, which we had the great opportunity to attend. All of
the people who attended were from the area, other than a member from city hall 6th district and
Officer Ruiz of the Clark Park precinct, but regardless, all wanted to help renew the park. The
people at the meeting as well as the people heading the Clark Park Coalition were very
welcoming and open to ideas. They functioned as a community and let everyone be a part of the
group, even those with physical and mental disabilities. With these meetings continuing, the
members of the community will be able to organize themselves and present ideas from various
organizations and groups to come up with plans for the park and to counter the barriers of the
park.
Also, to battle the institutional barriers, a new baseball field has been installed recently
using donations from the Detroit Tigers baseball player, Miguel Cabrera. The Red Wings have
also renovated the hockey rink in January 2014, which now has an outdoor score board and a
room stocked with ice skates. This allows the youth in the area from the surrounding schools to
play sports and create teams which can lead to more community events, and eventually less
crime from emerging adults (Ruben-2014).
Another plan that will soon be put to action is the revitalizing of the abandoned YMCA
building that is across the street from the park. The Ambassador Athletics Company is planning
to remodel the YMCA building so that it can once again function. This will also help people
alleviate fear from vacant buildings ridden with graffiti and vandalism.
Another topic that was discussed in the first neighborhood meeting was the involvement
of the local police force. In the past, Clark Park has not had a large police force, with only two
officers patrolling all of District six, also known as southwest Detroit. Officer Ruiz of 6th
precinct depicted how the crime barrier could be lessened by increasing the police force from
two officers per district to many more. Also, Officer Ruiz gave out his personal cell phone
number so that the people in the Clark Park neighborhoods could directly contact him at any time
about quality of life issues, such as an abandoned car or graffiti, rather than having nobody to
contact and inform about problems. Through the legitimization of more executive power, an
increase of social order will take place causing people to feel more safe in the area knowing that
they have someone to reach immediately. A case study from AOM relates to this topic of local
police involvement as officers in Newark, New Jersey began walking throughout a neighborhood
in which there was constant social disorder through panhandling, loitering teenagers and
vandalism, resulting in a more stable and crime-free environment. Although officers will not be
walking in Clark Park, the fact that there are more police will allow for more peace of mind of
citizens in the neighborhood, as occurred in Newark
Another way that induces beneficial legitimization of power in the area, which is
essential because of the amount of crime and lack of an authority figure, comes in the form of
demolition of abandoned houses. The mayor of Detroit, Mike Duggan, recently started the
Hardest Hit Fund (HHF) demolitions on April 21st 2014 using funds from the federal
government to destroy abandoned houses and structures to get rid of blight in Detroit. This is
part of the Motor City Makeover movement started by Duggan. Districts are beings cleaned up
one at a time("Motor City Makeover" 2014). This will allow neighborhoods to become safer,
bring up the value of houses, and make the area look better. This is related to the local level
policies discussed earlier and is an ongoing process which acts a solution to blight and health. By
destroying these houses in the area around Clark Park, the park will become safer.
The Clark Park Coalition is also teaming up with the organization, Healthy Detroit (an
organization we are working with). Healthy Detroit, founded by Nicholas Mukhtar, is a
non-profit that has decided to remodel parks across the city in order to promote healthy living.
They are teaming up with several groups and organizations to start their long term project, such
as the Detroit Lions and Detroit Red Wings. The first park the group chose to remodel is Clark
Park due to its highly populated area, which is their test park to see if these alters effectively
create change in the community. The theory is that if Clark Park can be fixed, so can any other
park in the city. They are planning to implement the first outdoor workout facility in the state,
known as a Fitzone, seen in cities such as Chicago and Miami. This will allow the general
public access to gym facilities all the time for and at their convenience, contributing to the
overall health of the neighborhood. This eliminates the barrier of not having any gym
institutions. The organization is also installing two volleyball courts, which will also contribute
to health and fitness as well as community togetherness like the hockey rink and the baseball
fields currently do. They will also help board up houses in the area with the organization
Americorp, which is teamed up with the Motor City Makeover plan of Detroit Future City,
taking effect the beginning of May 2014. As a whole, Healthy Detroit is planning to install or fix
already standing facilities at Clark Park and clean up the area by getting rid of blight and
promoting the idea that healthy is cool. The kickoff event at Clark Park is on May 17th 2014
(Mukhtar).
There are a lot of current solutions to the barriers that seem to be working in the park. So
far most of the current sports facilities, especially the baseball field, are in use and the extra
police force allows people to feel safe. All of the solutions combined change the ideas of
modernity. By implementing these solutions at the park, this idea can be reversed so that people
think less about me and I and instead think on the broader spectrum of we and us. This
brings people together causing collaboration and progress regardless of any external structures
that cause divisions between people.
Our Solutions
Art Therapy
Art programs are shown to have powerful effects in helping people cope with stress and,
through that, improve their psychological and physiological health. According to Stanford
Medicine, Creating art, viewing it, and talking about it provides a way for people to cope with
emotional conflicts, increase self-awareness, and express unspoken and often unconscious
concerns about their illness (cancer.stanford.edu). This is why we have decided to implement an
art program into Clark Park so that adults and children can cope with any mental stress that they
may feel as engaging in art is shown to be as powerful as talking to a mental therapy counselor
(cancer.stanford.edu).
A primary benefit of art therapy is that it opens doors to creating understanding and share
meaning, which is essential because of the diversity that exists today (Stuckey). This is crucial to
a site like Clark Park as it is situated in the heart of Southwest Detroit where diversity is key to
pushing the area out of poverty and blight among other issues. In this area, there is a program
called the Urban Arts Academy which is run for youth as a preventive measure so that they are
engaged with multimedia and hip-hop, through which they learn to express themselves
(dhdc1.org). This program is run by the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation. The fact that
the academy is run by a Hispanic group is a barrier as people of other ethnicities may not feel
welcome being part of a program that is run by another ethnicity. That is why an art program that
is run by an organization that is not tied to any particular race is useful in the Clark Park area. As
such, globalization and diversity in southwest Detroit creates another need for art therapy and art
programs so that people may get to understand one another and learn to create and share together
(Stuckey).
When we implement the art program in Clark Park we will ensure that we have active
and consistent participation in our program because according to a research study, In addition,
regression analyses showed that high levels of program participation correlated with improved
SF-36 social functioning, bodily pain, and physical role functioning scores, as well as a trend
toward greater albumin levels, but also higher phosphate and lower calcium levels (Stuckey).
Also, in a research study from 2013, art therapy was shown to lower levels of depression,
including severe depression (Im ML). This study also showed that music therapy along with art
therapy is very good in relieving stress and depression. Because of this, we will always have
music playing during the time we hold our art sessions. Thus, because of increased
understanding and health benefits, art therapy is a good choice as a Clark Park program.
As a group, we first met with Nicholas Mukhtar, the CEO of Healthy Detroit. He told us
about the organization and what its plans are for the parks in Detroit, specifically Clark Park. He
said that if we had any ideas, we should write up a proposal and send it to him. We thought about
Detroit as a whole and realized that the city has a lot to offer if only it had a larger voice. There
is so much inspiration in Detroit that probably stems from the poverty and blight, but there is not
a good way to portray it. There are so many artists from musicians to painters that live in Detroit
or go to Detroit for inspiration. It is like the graffiti that is everywhere in Detroit. People find it
okay to vandalize an abandoned building because instead of just sitting there wasting away, at
least it has a purpose, even if that purpose is to display a word or two. Graffiti, although a sign of
blight is also a sign of rebellion and of people being fed up with their situation. Although
vandalism is not a good thing, graffiti is still cool and beautiful in its own way. The idea we
came up with was to target those people who need a way to express themselves and relieve their
stress by allowing them to have a collective voice. We are planning to start an art organization
based in Clark Park. It would meet a few times a month and the point would be to form a group
that volunteers at the park but also does art. One major idea we have proposed for an art project
in the park is our plan to build a bridge containing glass murals painted by those that would
attend the event. We stumbled upon this idea as Peck Park, a park behind CCS, contains a
10-foot metal bridge with murals of Detroit and local memories. The goal is to add a note of
history to Clark Park with murals of memories and to add a beautiful attraction as well, creating
a more attractive park. We would create a blog for the group and post the art the members create
from these different projects along with the volunteering we do. The idea is that through social
media, we hope to give some of the people in Detroit a larger voice to make the problems of the
community known to everyone else. This would not only relieve stress, but also better the health
of the community overall.
The perfect example of a person who would benefit from this would be Mr. Pedro Lopez.
He is a member of the Clark Park Coalition and is a deaf photographer. He showed us some of
his photos when we visited the park and they were really good and interesting. It gave us insight
into who he is as a person without him saying anything.
Greenhouse
Another solution that our group wishes to propose in Clark Park implements the ideas of
New Urbanism where infrastructure will be intertwined with nature through an urban farm that is
at a walkable distance. A greenhouse is beneficial in many aspects on the psychological and
physiological health of citizens anywhere in the world. Through urban farming there will be a
higher attraction towards a healthy lifestyle and unification of the community through sharing
and growing together. After speaking with Kathleen Devlin, a lead figure in urban farming in
Detroit through her company Perma Detroit, much was learned about how urban farming and
greenhouses help develops a self-sustainable local food system that is as clean and organic as
possible to help alleviate struggles within neighborhoods. Kathleen has been working with Spirit
of Hope Church for eight years and has had promising results with urban farming. She even used
to live in the Clark Park area and insisted that having a hoop house in the 30 acre park is an
excellent solution to solving common struggles with poverty, community alienation, and healthy
living. She claims that benefits include being surrounded by a very warm, earthy smell that is
great to delve into when wanting to take a break from everyday struggles. She also states that
through a hoop house some crops can grow all year long providing foods with vitamins that
many Michiganians lack during the winter, such as Vitamin D, which leads to seasonal
depression disorder. Kathleen has also claimed that gardening has promoted her to engage in
more physical activity, something she avoided as she began to grow older (Devlin, April 22,
2014).
Kathleen also discussed issues with land grabbing as seen by John Hantz, a man that
wishes to create the worlds largest urban farm in the city of Detroit through the privatization of
lots. The city refused but after much negotiation agreed to allow him to have a large-scale tree
farm. Kathleen is incredibly opposed to Hantz due to the fact that he is actually trying to suck the
fruits of Detroit dry for his own personal gain. She informed us that he is under investigation
currently for owning a big bank and she finds it incredibly offensive that he is trying to get
people who lost money from banks to work under his wing. Through this legitimization of power
by the city of Detroit, there is an imbalance in liberalism due to the fact that it is not actually for
the benefits of the citizens of Detroit. Also in the land that Hantz has purchased, one of the most
expensive trees, black walnuts, are being harvested for his own gain rather than the city of
Detroit making local profit from the trees (Devlin, April 22, 2014).
To avoid this element of unfair legitimization of power, a greenhouse in Clark Park will
allow the community to step in and take control to make sure they reap all the benefits of urban
farming. By growing fruits and vegetables together, people in the neighborhood of Clark Park
can grow together and flourish as healthy, beautiful human beings. This can also prevent
alienation and discrimination of external structures such as race, class and age through working
together for one common goal- self-sustained, healthy living. Community gardening also
promotes reverse modernity through not thinking individualistically but rather for all of ones
neighbors. According to the organization Gardeners in Community Development, benefits that
have been achieved through community gardens is an increase in a sense of community
ownership and stewardship through the development of a community identity and spirit.
Community gardens also includes crime prevention as recognized by many police departments
through an opportunity to meet neighbors, creation of block clubs (neighborhood associations),
and an increase of eyes on the street. More benefits include offering unique opportunities for new
immigrants and minorities who tend to be concentrated in low-income communities through the
production of traditional crops otherwise unavailable locally and offering cultural exchange as
well as inter-generational exposure with other gardeners. As stated previously, Southwest Detroit
has a high rate of minorities such as Hispanics and African Americans. Through these benefits of
community gardening, immigrants and minorities are posed with more opportunities for equality
and acceptance in their neighborhoods.
Following the mission of Healthy Detroit to construct a social movement of Healthy is
Cool that appeals to youth and transcends throughout generations to come, a greenhouse can
definitely assist with such. Community gardens teach youth about where food comes from,
practical math skills, basic business principles, the importance of community and stewardship,
and gardening as a healthy, inexpensive activity for youths of all diversity to come together in a
socially meaningful and physically productive way (Benefits of Community Gardening).
Through community gardening, youth will have more activities to engage in allowing them to
avoid participating in crime and social disorder.
Building and implementing a sufficient greenhouse requires specific and careful materials
and guidelines. We have done research to discover the most efficient process to use in
developing a greenhouse at Clark Park, as we want the greenhouse to last and remain through
future generations, not only benefiting our own. We have proposed constructing the greenhouse
on the south end of Clark Park, as it is the most open area on the property containing no facilities
which allows the maximum amount of sunlight, a necessity for any greenhouse (Planning and
Building a Greenhouse, 2008). Healthy Detroit has approved the proposal for a greenhouse and
will supply materials necessary for building, including fiberglass walls and wood shelves for
plants. On May 17th, the kick-off day for Healthy Detroit events at Clark Park, we will be
distributing nutrition flyers providing knowledge about healthy eating, spreading the word about
the body and eating green, and providing free green smoothies to those at the event. Our goal is
to develop awareness of the importance and benefits of clean eating, also informing the
community of the future greenhouse that will be developed and will contain these
nutrition-packed foods.
Conclusion
One of the most critical issues that faces Detroit, especially southwest Detroit, is
deteriorating neighborhood health, which is falling apart to the rampant discords at the
psychological and physical level which are barred from being removed due to race issues
involving African Americans and Hispanic people, liberalism which allows for the expansion of
government to expand healthcare for Americans, and modernity which hampers the presence of a
unified community. Racial issues, a huge barrier to solving any problem in segregated Detroit,
that involve African Americans and Hispanic populations are essential to understand as
unification is necessary in Detroit neighborhoods so that people may understand one another. If
this unification and mutual understanding is achieved then peoples ways of seeing will change
and the psychological essence of modernity, the switch of the focus from the we to the I can be
reversed. And tocqueville, who visited Detroit circa 1831, warns that individualism in America
because it leads to people possessing an ego which poses as a danger to society. Then people
stop helping one another and do not help each other out. So if this strain of egoism is avoided
then the community can come together and solve their problems of deteriorating health. To do
this, the citizens of Detroit need to understand the effects of liberalism and focus on the local
level in their neighborhood instead of paying attention to the broader scope of the expansion of
the federal and the state levels of power to assess the needs of themselves as a community
instead of the larger whole or the individual level. In this manner, "it is getting involved in local
affairs that brings citizens out of their isolation. The free institutions at the local level constantly
remind citizens that they live in society" (Tocqueville). In this manner the deteriorating
neighborhood health can be saved. Tocqueville also goes on to say that "The health of a
democratic society may be measured by the quality of functions performed by private citizens"
(Tocqueville). In this manner, by performing functions like holding community meetings,
increasing police patrol, and involving the youth and the aging in community matters, citizens of
Southwest Detroit can better their own health. To help them do this, and because we believe that
service is the best way of seeing, we have decided to implement an art program at Clark Park to
give a place for locals to de-stress themselves which can lead to better psychological health,
which helps prevent physiological health problems. This in turn leads to better kept urban forms,
including better homes, schools, and a better Clark Park. And to quote Tocqueville one last time,
"Americans combat the effects of individualism by free institutions" and by establishing our
own free art classes, we will bring together people of all races, genders, and generations to
indulge in a stress free environment, and hopefully one day well preserved urban form.
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Heverly, Kabalan, Nizam, Zunnu Rain 1

Reversing Detroit Neighborhood Health

Mariam Zunnu Rain

Race, Barriers & Problems:

Problem at the Federal Level

Problem at a State Level

Problem at the Local Level

History of Clark Park

Current Solutions at Clark Park

Neighborhood health is a major issue in Detroit, especially in Southwest Detroit,

Clark Park Initiative starting May 17th.

A run-down, crime-ridden, and abandoned neighborhood is the place a majority of

environment of individuals. According to the Journal of Health and Social Behavior,

environmental stressors, specifically neighborhood disorder, results in psychological stress

eliminated through holistic community participation. Deteriorating neighborhood health in

disadvantageous policies than beneficial, and elements of modernity through psychological

individualism from the community.

The city of Detroit faces a tough challenge due to a multitude of long-existing

external structures such as housing, transportation, education, workplaces and environment

Legitimized governmental power as well as non-governmental institutions provide funding and

internal growth that leads to environmental repair of the community.

Race, Barriers & Problems

disparities and the lack of health institutions/resources for healthy living.

abandonment and blight resulting in neglect of social order within Detroit.

segregation by race (Sugrue).

of funds to spend on a gym membership. Transportation in itself is a second scarce institution as

Problem at the Federal Level

not accept Medicaid patients (the New England Journal of Medicine) . .

United States (U.S. Health).

change in health overall.

Problem at the State Level

the Federally Qualified Health Centers in Michigan.

disparities with minorities mainly found in broken neighborhoods.

Problem at the Local Level

make an excellent pilot site for testing out new solutions.

Southwest Detroit is a place that is breaking the trend of segregation in Detroits

helping neighborhood health by bringing money and food to neighborhoods.

healthy acceptance and assimilation of health-conscious activities. Through the participation of

reduce environmental stresses and lead to a sustainable, healthy lifestyle.

and diverse, complete neighborhoods (CNU Strategic Plan, 2011).

neighborhood. (Stapleton Denver, 2014).

Through following New Urbanism, the psychological aspects of Modernity will be

neighbors), focus on a community center to alleviate psychological alienation and restore

kinship, and linking the urban environment to nature.

National Prevention Strategy (NPS).The goal of NPS is to integrate cooperation of the

Healthy Detroit by running a weekly program, therefore allowing us to submerge ourselves in

Detroit, especially those situated in the Southwest around Clark Park.

History of Clark Park

and soon, the renovation was abandoned (Ruben 2014).

proximity to Detroits Ambassador Bridge, an international bridge with hundreds of trucks

area which only leads to further damage to the community.

Current Solutions at Clark Park

of the problems within the park from the ground up.

crime from emerging adults (Ruben-2014).

citizens in the neighborhood, as occurred in Newark

organization we are working with). Healthy Detroit, founded by Nicholas Mukhtar, is a

that cause divisions between people.

of the community overall.

into who he is as a person without him saying anything.

at a walkable distance. A greenhouse is beneficial in many aspects on the psychological and

neighbors. According to the organization Gardeners in Community Development, benefits that

have been achieved through community gardens is an increase in a sense of community

through an opportunity to meet neighbors, creation of block clubs (neighborhood associations),