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Wednesday, May 20, 2015

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SUMMER IN THE CITY Detroit

Summer service project provides

unique ways to give back to Detroit

in summer camp activities.

KAITLIN MALLEY 17 | Staff Writer
In the past, weve worked with summer schools,
ith Summer in the City (SITC),
volunteers from Metro Detroit but one of biggest things is just running summer
have the ability to directly in- camps for students, so students who are in our play
fluence the city and its people, program, theyll actually be paired up with usucontributing Detroits renewal ally an elementary, maybe a middle school student
through community service, Patrick Roache, vol- to be their buddy for the day, Weiner said. Its a
really great mentorship experience for them, and
unteer and student at Wayne State, said.
Summer in the City is a flexible, fun and func- also just a really good time for the students to get
tional way to do day-long service in Detroit, An- to know a kid whos experience is probably pretty
different than their own.
drew Weiner, program co-director, said.
Sarah ONeill 15 volunteered with SITC last
The organization works by providing high
school and college students with the opportunity to summer and especially enjoyed the play option
volunteer at one of their Detroit sites almost every because she had the opportunity to meet new kids
from different backgrounds.
day during the summer.
Roache said although the volunteer and youngBen Falik, co-founder of SITC, began the program in 2002 because he wanted giving back to be er child may come from contrasting households
and neighborhoods, playing together can be a very
more fun and less of a chore.
We wanted to change the game of volunteer- rewarding experience for both.
The kids that we go to live in the poorer areas
ing from being something you do once a year, or
never, to something that could be fun, flexible and of Detroit, and I dont think that thats sugarcoated
fulfilling for a diverse population of young people at all, Roache said. We are working with these
with energy and optimism to invest in Detroit, Fa- poorer areas with kids who come from not-so-necessarily wonderful, thriving homes, but being able
lik said via email.
SITC has three separate sections: paint, play and to play with people who care about Detroit and
care about them is really good for them.
plant, Roache said.
Both Weiner and Roache reiterated the notion
You can paint murals, you can go to urban gardens in the city limits or play with inner city kids at that connecting the disparity between Detroit and
Grosse Pointe through playing, painting and planttheir day camps, Roache said.
The paint division of SITC allows students ing is of the utmost importance for both groups
to spend their summer using their creative side. in order for a revival to occur in Detroit.
I think Grosse Pointe more than a lot of
Whether volunteers are on a ladder for hours or
sketching out the design for a new mural, they are other communities is really in a close proximall contributing to the revival of a city, Weiner said. ity to Detroit, but with a larger juxtaposition to
Roache, said he especially enjoys the artistic socioeconomic realities between the two, Weiner
aspect of SITC. When he began volunteering two said. If Detroit is going to have a comeback, it has
years ago, he found himself spending a lot of his to have all its community partners involved with
that, so for Grosse Pointe students, its really a twotime working at the paint sites.
The first year, the murals that we created, it was fold experience.
For Roache, who grew up close to Grosse Pointe,
just amazing to see them come to life, and to see
this wall thats covered in graffiti and thats crum- taking part in SITC only increased his pride for his
bling in parts to become this beautiful thing where hometown.
Ive always known that there is this spirit in
you work with the crumbling parts and you cover
the graffiti. I thought that was so cool, Roache said. Detroit of revitalization and that there is this life
here, Roache said. Working
Not only do volunteers work
with Summer in the City and
to mask preexisting graffiti on
Detroit isnt this dead,
focusing that revitalizing energy
their murals, they also try to predecrepit city. Its full of
and doing something with it, it
vent new vandalism from comincreases it tenfold.
promising the initial paintings
life, and its vibrant, and
However, the program wasnt
by using graffiti repellent, which
theres so much potential
founded in hopes of solving
allows spray paint to wash off
for this new energy in
Detroits problems. The crewithout taking the original paint
the city.
with it, Roache said.
PATRICK ROACHE ators, including Falik, wanted
Painting, along with the other
Volunteer more people contributing to the
grassroots solutions they see as
sectors of SITC, gave Roache an
Detroits main issues: education,
avenue to foster his creativity
engagement and empowerment.
and drive for giving back to his community.
Students from Metro Detroit have the opporI really do like community service, Roache
said. I just never had a lot of outlets for it, besides tunity, with SITC, to contribute to the aforemenstuff through school, and I dont really think that tioned rebuilding of Detroit, while also participatcounts much, as its not going towards people who ing in meaningful community service, Weiner said.
Administrators at SITC track every volunteers
really need it. With Summer in the City, that is
service hours, making it easy for them to use SITC
what I see. It is people who need it.
Another option at SITC is planting, Roache as a way to fulfill school requirements, Weiner said.
said. Plant volunteers will go to one of the urban However, students are encouraged to participate
even if they do not have an hours quota.
gardens dispersed throughout the city.
According to Roache, who coordinated with
Well have some people planting seeds at a
community garden, maybe even doing some blight Grosse Pointe volunteers last year, participation
removal there, trying to get the garden ready to from the east Detroit suburbs was lacking.
Everyone has the potential to give back to where
plant, Weiner said.
The last sector of SITC serves as an opportunity you are from, and the fact of the matter is that even
for students to unite with other children from De- though Grosse Pointe and Royal Oak and Livonia
troit by spending the day playing and participating are all suburbs, they all come from Detroit, Roache

GIVING BACK | (Above) Summer in the City offers paint, plant

and play sites for volunteers
(Below) Jennifer Maiorana 16 at
the play section last summer.

Photos courtesy of BEN FALIK and JENNIFER MAIORANA 16

Junior gains valuable

perspective about
Detroit from service
MY VIEW

Jennifer Maiorana 16

said.
This
year, SITC
is making it
very easy for students from around
Grosse Pointe to get
involved and give back.
There will be
a carpool site located at South
so that students
can arrive there in the morning and be taken
downtown to one of the many activities SITC has
to offer.
Julia Barnes 16 got involved last summer because one of her friends encouraged her to go.
I knew nothing about it, but I ended up loving
it, Barnes said.
Students who want to get involved this summer
can register at summerinthecity.com, Weiner said.
They are also welcome to come to the Grosse Pointe
carpool site the morning they want to volunteer.
The program begins on June 23, and operates
every Tuesday through Friday from nine a.m. to
two-thirty p.m. until Aug. 14, with the exception
of a few holidays. However, volunteers are not expected to participate every day, Weiner said.
Summer in the City is non-committal, Roache
said. You can come once and never come again,
and we will be happy to have you. We want you to
enjoy yourself, whether its for one day or for 31
days, and to feel good about the work that you did.
In the future, SITC hopes to continue to work
towards its goals by expanding its volunteer base
and evolving as a group, Falik said.
Detroit isnt this dead, decrepit city, Roache
said. Its full of life, and its vibrant, and theres so
much potential for this new energy in the city.
For more information, visit www.summerinthecity.com to find carpool sites and hours.

Thinking about those

12 gloriously-warm
weeks away from
school is the only thing
that gets me through the
year. Summer opportunities seem boundless: working
to save money, escaping with a
vacation, getting valuable experience from an internship, going to camp,
doing service, even relaxing for a bit. Yet,
there is never enough time to do everything.
One of the best parts of Summer in the
City (SITC), a service project I participated
in last year, is that volunteers have flexibility and can tailor their days around other
activities. Volunteers show up to their
carpool site around nine a.m. and
return around two p.m., gaining
four service hours regularly or
five if they drive.
However, SITC isnt about
service hours as much as its about
passionits filled with people who truly
care about fixing up Detroit and making it
a better place.
By painting murals, planting in urban
gardens and playing with local children,
volunteers have the opportunity to experience many different aspects of the city and
find which one appeals to them the most.
In addition, there is a field trip for the
play volunteers every Friday, followed by
a picnic for everybody which really allows
volunteers to get to know one another and
relax after a day of work.
Most days I went to SITC last summer,
I chose to paint which allowed me to explore my creative side. I also tried out plant
and play, which expanded my gardening
and socializing skills.
My favorite experience was seeing
a graffiti-covered wall transform into a
vibrant, hopeful creation. To me, this
reflects the city as a whole. With some devotion and persistence, Detroit can make
a comeback and transition into a thriving
city. Seeing hundreds of high schoolers
and college students come together and invest their time in SITC was firsthand proof
to me that Detroit is closer than I thought
to reaching its potential once again.
Living in Grosse Pointe, I feel as if I
have a moral responsibility to help out my
neighbors in Detroit. Going downtown a
few days a week in the summer is the least
I can do to give back to the community.
The best part is, SITC
If youre interested in being a part of
SITC, check summerinthecity.com for
more information about Souths carpool
site and how you can participate this summer.