The inner-city neighborhoods of Detroit are plagued with environmental issues and concerns ranging from litter scattered throughout residential streets to the mysterious pop-up’s of undesired illegally dumped piles of debris and rubbish potentially contaminated with asbestos, lead, and other toxins along with the countless companies who pollute and contribute substantially to the blight of communities. These businesses purposely give root in the motor city in a desire to prey upon the poor and due to the lack of environmental code enforcement.
These factors weigh heavily on both the mental and physical health of Detroit residents and foster criminal activity.
In the work of UDC, we look to bring all stakeholders together to create a clean, safe, healthy community free of environmental pollution. We call for and ask businesses to give recognition to environmental sustainability.
The inner-city neighborhoods of Detroit fight for the right to exist. To be seen beyond the proliferation of negative influences targeted towards people of color such as marijuana dispensaries, strip clubs, liquor stores, and mom and pop merchants who are exploitative. These negative influences deter the development of healthy families, foster criminal activity, and are the precursor of alcoholism and substance abuse.
UDC advocates for the infusion of healthy wholesome amenities within communities that attract homeownership, lends itself to upward mobility, and inviting to all ages and races, and is parallel to what is being offered in working-class suburban communities.
Often, we are defined by what we see daily – our surroundings, our exposure. It gives thought to future career paths and immediate employment opportunities. It is factual to say that most children living in impoverished inner-city neighborhoods of Detroit may not be aware of the existence of the enormous number of law firms, the broad range of medical service providers, financial institutions, and national retailers that are wholesome and inviting to working-class families of all ages because they do not exist in their community. What our children see in their community is the proliferation of marijuana dispensaries, liquor stores, strip clubs, used car lots, and the unkept dilapidated mom-and-pop businesses that mimic junkyards and or illegal dumpsites. These types of businesses do not produce economic progress, rather they create negative experiences which perpetuate negative behaviors.
The inner-city neighborhoods of Detroit are drenched in poverty. It is frightening to see poverty being addressed as an entire span of an individual’s lifetime and not as a temporary window in time. Many residents have succumbed to the ills of living in a community that does not offer positive experiences.
UDC serves as an advocate for the promotion of businesses that stimulate growth, strengthen communities, provide gainful employment opportunities with transferrable skills, and serve as a pathway out of poverty.
Quality relevant impactful targeted educational experiences are essential to the growth, development, and success of residents living in the inner-city neighborhoods of Detroit. For many Detroit residents living amid blight, the struggle of trying to meet basic needs coupled with traumas has resulted in education being viewed perhaps as unattainable, unimportant, or nonessential. Therefore, it becomes imperative to couple learning experiences with effective intervention programs directed towards improving the long-term quality of life for low to moderate-income families. Learning experiences that are infused with an overabundance of positive experiences within the community to combat the enormous ills typically found in inner-city neighborhoods.
UDC acknowledges the existence of negative influences within inner-city neighborhoods as precursors for the massive incarnation of people of color. Many individuals are choosing a life of criminal activity as a path of survival “surviving” in life over education.
As such, UDC advocates for the removal of such influences, and the development of clean and safe wholesome neighborhoods parallel to what is being offered in nearby working-class suburban communities.
Sign up for our monthly newsletter to get the latest news, volunteer opportunities.
Vivamus sollicitudin auctor risus at lobortis suspendisse tincidunt dignissim tempor.
Vivamus sollicitudin auctor risus at lobortis suspendisse tincidunt dignissim tempor.