The Greening of Detroit

The Greening of Detroit
Formation 1989
Type Nonprofit resource agency
Location
Services Reforestation, Urban forestry, Urban farming, Job training and workforce development, Environmental education
President
 Rebecca Salimen Witt
VP of Operations
 Lionel Bradford
Affiliations Bank of America
Budget
USD $3.8 million (approximate)
Website greeningofdetroit.com

The Greening of Detroit is an urban forestry program and non-profit partner in The Detroit Partnership; it was founded in 1989.[1] In addition to planting trees in the Detroit area, the organization engages in urban forestry education, job training, and other community programs.[2] In 2011, Greening planted 12,156 trees in Detroit,[3] and as of June 2013 has planted over 81,000 trees in the city since the organization's inception.[1][4] The organization is involved in urban farming, working to maintain and improve urban farms in Detroit.[5] Greening is also working to improve air quality.[6] Its annual operating budget is approximately $3.8 million.[7] Rebecca Salimen Witt is the president of The Greening of Detroit.[5][8]

Programs

The Greening of Detroit's Lafayette Greens garden

The organization works to coordinate and utilize vacant lots in Detroit for urban gardens and tree nurseries.[9] Produce grown in the gardens is used to provide Detroit citizens with food, and trees grown in the converted vacant lots are replanted in the city.[9] The conversion of the vacant lots also improves their appearance and serves to reduce vandalism.[9][10]

At Romanowski Park in Detroit, The Greening of Detroit has partnered with area schools to educate students about nutrition and gardening during the growing season.[9]

The group is working to use bioremediation techniques to restore contaminated land in the city, including an abandoned lot owned by Detroit Public Schools.[11]

GreenWorks

The organization's GreenWorks workforce development program was started in 2006, in partnership with LaSalle Bank.[12] This job training program was developed "to provide unemployed Detroiters with valuable job training and certification in the green industry."[12] This partnership has continued with Bank of America (which acquired LaSalle Bank in 2007),[13] which provided a $200,000 grant for the GreenWorks program in 2012.[12] The GreenWorks program provides training for jobs in landscaping, agriculture and forestry, and upon completion of the program, participants are afforded an opportunity to take the Landscape Industry Certification exam.[12]

Green Corps

The Greening of Detroit employs 200 students in their Green Corps program every summer. The employees are picked from a pool of 2,000 prospects, and the jobs pay minimum wage.[5] In the process of their work to maintain various plantings in Detroit, Green Corps employees also learn about urban ecology.[9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Green Infrastructure". The Greening of Detroit. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  2. ↑ Gallaher, John (Sep 9, 2012). "Greening of Detroit expands beyond urban forestry". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved Nov 7, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Inspiring the next Detroit: 2012 a year in review" (PDF). The Greening of Detroit. p. 4. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  4. ↑ Block, Dustin (June 7, 2013). "A low-cost fix for Detroit drainage problems? Planting trees". MLive. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 Timm, Jane C. (September 10, 2013). "Urban farming takes hold in blighted Motor City". MSNBC. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  6. ↑ Collaboration of Efforts to Improve Southwest Detroit’s Environment by Michelle Abd’Elaziz
  7. ↑ "Listing for The Greening of Detroit". Charity Navigator. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  8. ↑ "Contact us". The Greening of Detroit. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Louv, Richard (2012). The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder. Algonquin Books. pp. 203-204. ISBN 1616201509
  10. ↑ This was stated in the book The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder, and was sourced therein from The Greening of Detroit's website
  11. ↑ Southwest Detroit tree-planting plan fuels toxic relationship, Jim Lynch, The Detroit News, 23 May 2014
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Greening of Detroit Partners with Bank of America to Put Unemployed Detroiters to Work in Green Industry Jobs". dBusiness. September 24, 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  13. ↑ "Bank of America completes LaSalle acquisition". Columbus Business Journal. October 1, 2007. Retrieved 7 November 2013.

Further reading

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