|
-
THE MOTOR CITY BLIGHT BUSTER VOLUNTEER NETWORK GETS THE JOB DONE -
In its remarkable 18 year
history, Motor City Blight Busters in conjunction with its coalition
of community partners can proudly claim 120,000
volunteers, who have contributed more than
658,000 volunteer hours to paint 684
homes, board up and secure 379
abandoned buildings,
renovate
176
houses and build 114 new
ones to make suitable housing for 1,160
people.
In the process, they used 21,000
gallons of paint, 15,500
pounds of nails and 15,470
sheets of plywood.
They demolished 113 houses
with sledgehammers and people power and undertook 3,850
neighborhood clean-ups, that resulted in 1,550
dumpsters of trash and 70,000
garbage bags.
Over
the years, 3,900 neighborhood
residents have participated in Angel's Night patrols from the
Motor City Blightbusters headquarters. City officials have expanded the
program and last year it
attracted more than 65,000
volunteers city-wide.
Blight
Busters fed 350 people at
its first annual Thanksgiving dinner, provided space for 300
students
to learn building trades and culinary arts at ACCOSS Training Center in
the Motor City Resource Center and offered free health screening to 500
citizens.
Always
working to bridge the gap between groups, Motor City Blightbusters has
hosted more than
500 suburban teens over
the last two years who volunteered for inner city projects through the
"Summer in the City" program, brought together 150
people in the JACOB
(the Jewish and Chaldean Opportunity Builders) to assist in projects and
helped 20
urban teen-age girls find fun and healthy activities in another
Motor City Blight Busters program, Girlfriendz.
Motor
City Blight Busters Founder,
John J. George, has been awarded the "Points of Light" award
by President Clinton.
This award honors people who have done outstanding volunteer work.
-
back to top - |
Get Mail
