Neighborhood blight, broken streetlights, and junk vehicles and part of life in the city for too many Detroiters.  Durene Brown is the City Ombudsman.  She told us, “We are the only access that frustrated citizens have when they’ve got complaints.

Her office is in city hall but she operates outside the usual city hall circles.  “I’m not real popular around here,” she shared, “Our office is on the first floor and I pretty much stay on the first floor.”

When she does get out of the office she often meets with citizen groups, like the gathering of residents recently at the UAW Region 1-A Voter Center.

As the city’s financial problems increase do so the number of times citizens reach out to the ombudsman’s office — more than 27,000 in 2010.

Meanwhile, problems like growing trash piles continue to get worse.  And the ombudsman says the city doesn’t have an adequate solid waste management plan or the shredders needed to handle the mess.

According to Brown, “We don’t have the equipment to deal with all of this trash.  With a solid waste management plan, you would also be able to deal effectively with our issue of dumping.”

Durene BRown knows this would take money.  She says one of the reasons the city doesn’t have enough money is that people have trouble paying their taxes, and it isn’t just that they cannot afford it, “They have difficulty paying their taxes because they either have the wrong tax bill or they don’t get a bill.

Last year her office received 2000 calls from people who wanted to pay their taxes.  And then she tells the story of her priest who paid his Detroit taxes on time.

“He paid an income tax, wrote a check to the city that was not cashed in 14 months.  How many other people did that, how much does that add up to?”

Money problems have hit the ombudsman’s office especially hard.  Brown says, “We’ve sustained a 29% cut in this little tiny budget, compared to 4% to 15% cuts in other departments and now additional cuts are looming.”

Brown’s 10-year appointment runs through 2015.  She’s determined to use that time to make the city a better place for its residents.

“The number one role if government is to provide service.”

Click here for more on the Detroit Ombudsman

Detroit Harmonie has selected five Detroit-based social entrepreneurs as finalists for the Get Funded Challenge.

The five organizations–Detroit SOUP, En Garde Detroit, Fresh Corner Cafe’, PonyRide and Summer in the City, will compete for first through fifth place prizes announced at Detroit Harmonie’s second annual International Experience on Saturday, March 3rd, 2012 at the Virgil H. Carr Arts League of Michigan in Detroit.

The International Experience is Detroit Harmonie’s second annual signature event celebrating the diversity and future of metro Detroit with live entertainment, food, and music representing several cultures in the community. The evening will include two competitions where Detroit Harmonie will deliver $50,000 in philanthropic funding to the social entrepreneurs making the city of Detroit an attractive place in which to live, work, and play.

The Get Funded Challenge winners will be announced during the main program. The first place winner will get $30,000.

You can learn more about each of the finalists by clicking on links to the  videos below.

Click here for the Detroit SOUP video.

Click here for the EnGarde Detroit video.

Click here for the Fresh Corner Cafe video.

Click here for the Pony Ride video.

Click here for the Summer in the City video.

Tickets to Detroit Harmonie’s International Experience are available online for $20 or at the event for $30.

Click here to go to the Detroit Harmonie website.

A show that celebrates out-of-the ordinary cuisine and characters put Detroit in the national spotlight on the Travel Channel.

In the latest episode of “Bizarre Foods America” on the Travel Channel, chef, writer and culinary explorer Andrew Zimmern visits restaurants including Motor City Soul Food, Cafe’ d’Mongo’s Speakeasy, both in Detroit, Al-Ajami in Dearborn, and Srodek’s Deli in Hamtramck.

Click here to see clips from Bizarre Foods America: Detroit on the Travel Channel website.

A new music video carries a positive message for the city of Detroit.

“Turn It Around” was directed by Ozie Cargile II, who also shot the video. It features the band, Rock Nation, and was shot in various locations around the city in 2010.

The band is now known as Good Day Bad Day. Cargile and all of the band members are all from Detroit.

Cargile tells Detroit 2020 he hopes to expand the faith-based message to the rest of the country.

Check out the video and let us know what you think!

Click here to see the video.

Angela Reyes is helping to change lives in Southwest Detroit.

She founded the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation 15 years ago.

The DHDC helps more than 5,000 people every year through a wide range of services, including an after-school program. Reyes says 90 percent of the students who come through their program go on to college.

We’re proud to name her Detroit 2020′s Person of the Week.

Click here to go to the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation website.

If you’d like to nominate a Detroit 2020 Person of the Week, go to the comment section below.

Dr. Sweet’s two brothers, Otis, a local dentist, and Henry, a university student, were at the house.  So were seven other men.  There had been warnings that trouble was likely.  So the men were armed with rifles.

When rocks began to pelt the house, the men inside fired.  One man in the street was killed.  Another was wounded.

Police arrested all eleven adults in the house, including Sweet’s wife, Gladys.

They were held in jail 84 days.  Their first trial ended with a hung jury.

What happened next was the basis for the book Arc of Justice.  The book was the basis for a play written and directed by Detroiter Brenda Perryman.

The play is a dramatization of the second trial.  This time only Dr. Sweet’s brother Henry was tried because he admitted to police he fired a weapon.

The prosecutor in the case was Robert Toms.  The defense attorney was the nationally renowned Clarence Darrow, who had been persuaded by the NAACP to take the case.

The judge was Frank Murphy, who later became Detroit mayor, Michigan governor and U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

William Giovan is portraying Frank Murphy in the play.  Judge Giovan worked as a Recorders Court Judge in the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, named for his character in the play.

Judge Giovan says “This was really a legal landmark and made possible by Judge Frank Murphy himself who was a person who respected the rights of the accused and oppressed minorities before it was popular to do so.

So much has changed since the Sweet trial.  Why does Brenda Perryman think the play is relevant today?  “Because you learn from history, you learn how to avoid repeating history.  You can take something good from this.”

And you can see a very interesting play.

If you would like to see it, the play, Dr. Sweet’s Tinderbox, will be performed Wednesday, February 22 at 7:00pm in the GM Theatre of the Charles Wright Museum of African American History.  There is no cost to attend the event.

Members of Detroit City Council have selected option 3 for breaking up the city into council districts.

Under the new charter, each City Council member is to be elected in one of seven districts. Two additional council members will be elected at-large.

The council members had four maps to choose from. But a fifth, submitted by Data Driven Detroit, was not voted on.

Click here to see the boundaries of each option.  Be sure to then click on the option you want to see!

Through Detroit 2020′s partnership with the New Michigan Media, we highlight inspiring stories in communities throughout the area and showcase our rich diversity.

Here’s a story by Jackie Headapohl from the Detroit Jewish News’ Red Thread magazine.

There are a few food items that are as identifiably “made in Detroit” as the horseless carriage, seven-layer cake, Coney Island hotdogs and a certain extra-fizzy ginger ale among them. Then there are bagels.

While certainly not indigenous to the Motor City, bagels that are produced locally have telltale specifications that are unlike their New York or national chain brethren: a bit smaller, slightly crunchy outside and a less “doughy” inside. And now, local bagels have made their triumphant return to the city center, courtesy of the Detroit Institute of Bagels.

It’s a business that Bloomfield Township natives Ben Newman, 27, and his younger brother Dan, 23, are in the process of launching from their home in the city’s Corktown district. They plan to open a brick-and-mortar store in the first quarter of 2012.

Kevin Bush studied urban planning at U-M with Ben. “What the Newman brothers are trying to do,” he said, “is exactly the thing post-industrial cities like Detroit need as they try to attract and retain residents and companies.”

Customers started coming from word of mouth or the Detroit Institute of Bagels’ website (detroitinstituteofbagels.com). Their Facebook page now includes more than 500 fans.

Their downstairs neighbor Dean Simmer, a high school teacher at Detroit Cristo Rey High School, is excited about the brothers’ venture.

“I’ve never been able to find a good bagel in the city,” said Simmer. “And living downstairs has given me ample opportunity to sample DIB bagels. I can’t wait until they open up a shop.”

Already, the Detroit Institute of Bagels has orders from major conference centers, hotels and businesses, as well as average city dwellers. They also sell their bagels at Eastern Market each Tuesday.

The proof, to borrow a phrase, is in the bagels: The brothers’ more esoteric offerings include olive oil, rosemary and sea salt bagels; cherry chocolate chunk; and blueberry ricotta, to name a few.

Ben, as an urban planner, you were inspired to start a food business in the city through your coursework on Detroit’s vacant properties, part of the master’s program you completed at the University of Michigan.

BEN: “New businesses in the food industry can help fill those vacant spaces, attract more people to Detroit and provide jobs.”

Will you help others follow your lead?

BEN: Yes, I want to help revitalize the city and attract more young people. To attract those creative people, you need plenty of places to eat, drink and congregate — that’s what we envision for Detroit Institute of Bagels.”

Why bagels?

BEN: “Detroit is a ‘bagel desert.’ Besides, bagels are the quintessential Jewish food and we want to be a part of a growing Jewish community in the city.”

You used a focus group last March to test your various bagel recipes at a three-week fundraiser for the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue.

BEN: “It was a good way to test support and help the synagogue.”

Dan, you studied business and political science at the University of Michigan. Now, you and your brother churn out between 10 and 15 dozen bagels a week, often rising as early as 2:30 a.m. to start baking.

DAN: “The kitchen gets hot, but it’s a lot more fun to knead bagels than to punch numbers in a spreadsheet.”

How difficult is it to start of business in Detroit with its 800 pages of business code requirements?

DAN: “One impediment to doing business in the city is its murky legislation. But the City Council and Mayor Dave Bing are working on clearing it up.”

Are others in the food business helping out?

DAN: “We go on ‘bagel goodwill tours’ around Detroit. We’re reaching out to other food businesses in the city and finding mentors. We also meet once a month with other food business entrepreneurs to help one another out.”

You estimate you need $100,000 to set up the bagel shop and hope to combine your own startup capital with neighborhood grants you’ve applied for from Tech Town and Midtown Inc. What about “crowd-funding” on your website; how does that work?

DAN: “For example, if someone gives $20 to Detroit Institute of Bagels, they will get a certificate worth a dozen bagels in return.”

Click here to go to the Detroit Institute of Bagels website.

Click here to go to the Detroit Jewish News website.

Click here to go to the Red Thread Magazine website.

Click here to go to the New Michigan Media website.

Through Detroit 2020′s partnership with the New Michigan Media, we highlight inspiring stories in communities throughout the area and showcase our rich diversity.

Here’s a story by Tack Yong Kim of the Michigan Korean Weekly.

Soulbrain MI Inc. invested $30 million to start a plant from a 10-year-old vacant building in Northville two years ago.  Soulbrain MI Inc. is a manufacturer of electrolyte – a critical component of lithium ion battery.

Named after its parent company in South Korean, TechnoSemiChem Co. Ltd., Soulbrain’s first name was TSC Michigan.  The name changed to Soulbrain MI in May of 2011. Soul is a homonym with Seoul, the capital city of Korea. The new name Soulbrain MI is indeed ‘Seoulbrain in Michigan’. 

He brought all the tanks and pipes as well as necessary hardware and software  from Korea to install in the plant.  It was like bringing in 10-year-advanced technology into Michigan.

Soulbrain MI is growing in the state of Michigan, which claims it to be the world center of battery industry. Chief Executive Officer Allen S. Ibara  expects revenue to be between $40 million and $70 million in 2012.  “We hired 25 degreed engineers last year. We will double the number by the end of this year. As we grow, we will eventually expand up to more than 200 engineers in five years” said Ibara.

However it is not an easy task to find right candidates in Michigan.“Simply because the technology we are dealing with does not exist in North America. We find new grads in chemical engineering, chemistry, material science from local universities, such as University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University, but we need to send them to Korea so they can learn the new process,” Ibara said.

“Many students think they are done with learning after their graduation, but it is not what they learned in American universities”. Ibara is looking for candidates who are willing to adapt themselves to cope with new technology and those who do not frustrated to deal with something new.

 Korean and Japan started research in advanced  battery 10 years ago. They are far advanced than USA. As a result, Ibara needs to bring some foreign talents to fill up the positions because he cannot find the right ones anywhere in US. In such a case, he has to go through tough immigration processes to get H-1 visa for his employees.  “I mean it, it’s tough and tiresome”, he added. After they arrive here, getting driver’s license is another hill to go over. “It is not foreigner-friendly. Even though they are legally here to work, it is a very slow and inconvenient process to get driver’s licenses”, said Ibara.

Michigan can be the state as the center for automotive battery manufacturing. Michigan can manufacture not only the electrical vehicle but also the heart of it – advanced lithium-ion battery. “To make the real center of the industry, Michigan needs to make more international-friendly environment”, said Ibara.

Ibara is satisfied with current location because it is close to major highways and airports.

However, he experienced technical difficulties to set up the new plant. The internet speed was so slow that he had to install fiber wires for himself. As a foreigner, he had hard time setting up a business because there was no business landing service.  “It was not easy opening a business checking account, getting the enough electrical power, contacting water department and obtaining construction permits. I couldn’t find any temporary office before opening this site. Start-up incubator is something necessary,” Ibara said. Even though such a service is available through Techtown, he was not aware of it when he needed the service the most.

Michigan is a good place for Ibara. “Because it has a good infrastructure; good schools for the kids of my employees, low cost of living and less congested traffic,” he added. If he has enough power to change one thing in Michigan, it’s cold weather in winter. As a former  Californian, the first winter in Michigan was so harsh. “…but it is better than hurricane or earthquake to live with”, he is becoming a true Michigander as the third winter is approaching.

Click here to go to the soulbrain MI website.

Click here to go to the Michigan Korean Weekly website.

Click here to go to the New Michigan Media website.

Detroit 2020 is proud to be a partner with the New Michigan Media to highlight the inspiring stories in communities around the area and to showcase our rich diversity.

Here’s a story by Natasha Dado that appeared the in The Arab American News about the co-founder of a charter school system who is passionate about getting students to pursue college degrees.

The charter school system, Global Educational Excellence (GEE), has helped pave the road to success for several working professionals who hold advanced college degrees in southeast Michigan.  “I want to see every child graduate from GEE and earn a minimum of a four year degree,” said GEE co-founder Mohamad Issa.

GEE is committed to preparing students for higher education. Today more than 90% of GEE high school seniors go on to pursue college careers.  Its curriculum exceeds state standards, and the learning environment is progressive.  All 12 GEE academies provide education services not typically accessible at other schools.

GEE was established in 1998 by Issa and his brothers, who are Palestinian. Central Academy in Ann Arbor was the first school to open. Issa volunteered there for four years to make the school a success. Two new academies opened in Detroit in 2011.

Issa’s concern about his own children’s education pushed him to get into the field. While he believes private and public schools are accredited learning institutions, he knows they can be improved. He wanted to keep an eye on his children and make sure they received good educations.   “I did it because of my kids,” Issa said.

All his children are GEE graduates and have completed college. One is enrolled at Wayne State University ’s law school and another is still in high school. Issa acknowledges he had a son who struggled in public schools, but became successful after enrolling at a GEE academy, and this year earned his Ph.D.

Other GEE graduates have gone on to pursue careers in fields including law and education. About 20 staff members working at GEE are graduates of the school system.  “We are helping individual students. We make sure no student is left behind,” Issa said.

The GEE Alumni Association’s mission is to establish lifelong connections between its academies and alumni to continue academic and alumni growth. Last year alumni from various schools encouraged students to push for academic excellence and pursue college careers during the GEE Alumni Association dinner. Issa hopes students and alumni connect so students have mentors to speak with after graduation.

Issa came to the United States in 1973, and has essentially helped countless students by providing them with high quality education. His brother Dr. Said Issa has been instrumental in the process. “This country has given me the opportunity to open schools and serve a lot of students here. I’m very blessed,” Issa said. “You know what, if I did it for free, I would do it again.”

Educators work with every child individually to cater to various levels of performance. If a student is in fourth grade but performing at a second grade level, GEE educators will invest more time in the student, hoping that within a year or two the child can catch up. This prevents students from being held back a grade.

Additionally the curriculum includes Arabic language classes at all academies and Spanish at Victor Academy in Ypsilanti. There’s tutoring and after school programs for students to get help with homework.  Every year 15 students are selected to visit Jordan through the Global Passage: Destination Jordan program. GEE follows state guidelines for all academic and non-academic subjects.

The maximum class size in the academies is 25 to ensure educators can focus on every student. Anyone residing in the state is eligible to enroll in a charter school. There are about 4,000 students in all academies combined.

You find a strong academic and parent connection at GEE. There are parent coordinators, and parents have the opportunity to enroll in ELL and computer classes. Parents are also educated on how to help their children succeed.

Parents are pushed to get involved in their children’s education.  In some cases GEE faculty members have visited the homes of students who appear to be struggling in school. There are special education programs at GEE too.

GEE schools are improving communities. Before the Bridge Academy West campus opened this Fall the building was vacant. Now it’s a middle school with about 330 students. Issa has received thanks from people in the community for remodeling the building and bringing it back to life. “We opened a nice safe school in the community,” he said.

Students become actively involved in the community, by participating in activities and taking on civic responsibilities. GEE only opens academies in areas where the surrounding community can benefit, and the company can make a difference in the lives of people living and working there.

The faces inside GEE schools are culturally diverse, and students have the opportunity to learn about people from across the globe. “The diversity really distinguishes this program,” said Bridge Academy teacher Khadigah Alasry.

To make accommodations for foreign students GEE offers ELL classes and bilingual instructors.  There is a significant presence of Latino, Pakistan, Polish, Bosnian, Bengali and Ukraine students at some of the  K-12 academies.

Instructors who are proficient in many of the student’s native tongues and English are available to help them succeed in school.  In some academies more than  50% of the student body is African American.  All GEE staff are trained on the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol, a research model that makes it easier for foreign students to learn English. GEE is expected to come out with a textbook for its Arabic language program.

Even foreign language CDs are distributed to help the students succeed on the MEAP test.   “Look how many immigrants we have, and they all need the help. And look how many students we’ve helped so far,” said GEE Marketing and Communications Director Mouna Abboushi.

The following are names and locations for GEE Academies in Michigan:

Bridge Academy in Hamtramck

Central Academy in Ann Arbor

Edmonson Elementary School in Detroit

Frontier International Academy in Hamtramck

Global Heights Academy in Dearborn Heights

Riverside Academy East Academy in Dearborn

Riverside Academy West Academy in Dearborn

Riverside Academy Early Childhood Center in Dearborn Heights

Victor Academy in Ypsilanti

White Elementary School in Detroit

Click here to go to the Global Educational Excellence website.

Click here to go to the The Arab American News website.

Click here a link to go to the New Michigan Media website.