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3 Rebuilding Efforts in Detroit, Michigan
Pages 27-44

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From page 27...
... In some ways, as individual speakers noted, because so many things in Detroit need to be fixed, the city will have more flexibility to attack such issues as infant mortality, obesity, and health equity. Although Detroit is not exactly a blank canvas, it is certainly a much emptier canvas than Washington, DC, or the New York City area, and the revitalization plans for the city reflect this.
From page 28...
... "This, of course, is the other Detroit," he said. "This is 1 More information about Detroit Future City is available at http:// detroitfuturecity.com (accessed April 16, 2015)
From page 29...
... Kinkead then spoke about the 50-year vision that Detroit Future City has developed to address those problems and create a better long-term future for the city. The long-term vision is composed of several major pieces that are fairly straightforward on their own but that combine in a way that should make a major difference, he said.
From page 30...
... opportunities for employment in a range of employment districts across the city that go well beyond the greater downtown and midtown." A city typically thinks mainly in terms of residential areas and business areas and has zoning that reflects that. Detroit Future City, however, envisions a wide variety of land uses and has developed a set of land use typologies to capture that vision.
From page 31...
... This is about taking what was a fixed, large-scale unibody bus that drove down a street five times a day for a woman who might need a doctor twice a month, to an on-call paratransit system that provides for a much higher degree of service at an incredibly lower cost to the public transit provider. Those are the kinds of things of things we're talking about." As another example, Kinkead spoke of ideas to address the city's rainwater capture system.
From page 32...
... "Detroit has a lot of available land that is toxic," Kinkead explained. "But we don't have the need for reinvestment and reutilization of the land in conventional ways for a long time; therefore, we can use slower, more costeffective, and more natural methods for that remediation." To help guide decisions about what to do with vacant land, Detroit Future City is developing a vacant land transformation guide with the goal of stabilizing neighborhoods.3 It provides a menu of options for residents to choose from to determine how to reutilize and improve the available land.
From page 33...
... Another example of improving quality of life is the way in which the city is approaching deconstruction. "We are bringing down blight in the city," Kinkead said, "but doing it in a way that is much more thoughtful than straight demolition, which contributes to landfills and really underutilizes the opportunity for employment." In particular, Detroit Future City carried out a study of 10 homes in the southwest part of Detroit using five different deconstruction techniques to determine what types of materials could be pulled out of the homes and sold.
From page 34...
... Showing a picture of a large group of people helping plant trees along a freeway, he said, "It takes all of these pieces together to have an impact in a place like Detroit, and that is what we do." HEALTH IN ALL POLICIES The next speaker was Loretta Davis, president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Population Health, who discussed the "health in all policies" approach and how it applies to Detroit and, more broadly, all of Michigan. Davis began her presentation by citing a statement made by the National Association of County and City Health Officials.
From page 35...
... In Wayne County, which includes Detroit, there is a collaboration between the Detroit-Wayne County Health Authority and a community organizing group called MOSES (Metropolitan Organizing Strategy Enabling Strength, which is affiliated with a national network of faith-based community organizing groups)
From page 36...
... Then I came to understand that if we want things that are transformational, long term, and sustainable, it does take a certain level of boldness." Davis ended with a quote from Tony Iton, senior vice president for Healthy Communities at The California Endowment: "As public health professionals, we need a new kind of practice where public health practitioners understand that creating health equity requires us to be in deep relationship with people who understand and are willing to create and build power. Powerlessness is making us sick." THE HENRY FORD HEALTH SYSTEM The panel's final speaker was Kimberlydawn Wisdom, senior vice president of community health and equity and the chief wellness officer for
From page 37...
... Through the leadership of chief executive officer Nancy Schlichting and her predecessor, Gail Warden, Wisdom said, the Henry Ford Health System has been committed to the idea that health is more than just health care delivery services and that ensuring individual health requires taking community health into account. Twelve years ago, as Schlichting was directing the development of the health system's strategic framework, she made sure that in addition to traditional pillars, such as people, service, quality, and research and education, a community pillar was included in what was described as "the Henry Ford experience." The health system's vision statement calls for "transforming lives and communities through health and wellness one person at a time," and that transformational element is key, Wisdom said.
From page 38...
... The health system is also involved in dendro-remediation by installing sustainable landscaping that will include native plants that do not require extensive watering and that will help remove environmental contaminants. Switching gears, Wisdom then described some of the community engagement and outreach efforts that the Henry Ford Health System engages in.
From page 39...
... Yet another program hires community health workers who serve as liaisons between the health system and the community. Finally, the Henry Ford Health System participates in a variety of efforts to improve the quality of life in the community, from hosting public movie nights to supporting the creation of a large mosaic by 1,300 individuals from across Detroit.
From page 40...
... Depending on the particular issue, different groups are taking the lead in looking for solutions, but none of those groups are composed of people whose salaries are being paid by organizations that have some interest in the status quo, so it makes it easier for them to "speak truth to power," Davis said. Wisdom added that another example is that the Henry Ford Health System is working closely with three other health systems -- the Detroit Medical Center, Oakwood Health Care, and St.
From page 41...
... . People love to come there not only when they are sick, but they come when they are healthy." Chris Leinberger, a real estate developer who runs the graduate real estate program at George Washington University in Washington, DC, offered some background on walkable urban places and how Detroit compares with other cities.
From page 42...
... "The disadvantaged communities look at the sustainability people and think they have their heads in the clouds," worrying about what is going to happen over the next 10 or 20 years, whereas the people in disadvantaged communities feel they need their problems solved now. "The sustainability community says, ‘Well, you are too narrowly focused; you're looking oftentimes at symptoms and not causes, and the solutions you come up with are not sustainable.'" Thus, Zenick asked the panelists if they had seen any lessening of those tensions or if they still exist.
From page 43...
... It has transformed our communities not just because we see infants not dying, but we see women who are gaining employment, who have gained better housing, transportation, access to food, and are in a much more self-sustaining position so that they can then be part of the problem solving and part of the solution in the communities. That is what I consider a transformational story." Davis described how in February 2012 the mayor of Detroit, looking at an emergency financial manager coming in and facing the possibility of bankruptcy, took the bold step of announcing what services he felt were true municipal services, things like public safety, lighting, and garbage pickup.
From page 44...
... 2009. Local government actions to prevent childhood obesity.


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