Transforming Neighborhoods and Attitudes

Team 313 didn't start out doing anti-blight work. The Detroit-based youth development organization kept busy with other efforts like gardening and running a fitness training camp. Two years ago, however, the nonprofit felt an urgent need to start cleaning up trash-ridden neighborhoods in its hometown.
 
It responded by launching an effort called Block By Block, which uses young volunteers to clean up garbage and change attitudes about littering and dumping.
 
The program is composed of a core group of about 25 youth, most between the ages of 10 and 15. Cookouts are held to coincide with the clean up events; t-shirts and sometimes bicycles are also given out as incentives.
 
Two seasons into the project, Block By Block has held 57 cleanups, covering an area of more than one square mile on the city’s far east side. The 2014 season kicked off earlier this month.
 
Felicia Andrews, Team 313 founder and chief executive, says that the situation was so dire in 2012 that her group felt an obligation to get involved.
 
"It was so dirty. It was to the point where it was almost like a nightmare, because no one was saying or doing anything," Andrews says. "How can you talk about youth development, when you're sitting by doing nothing as youth are going home into a trash can?"
 
Starting in May 2012 with a single block where a volunteer lives, the youth and a handful of adult leaders began picking up

"It was so dirty. It was to the point where it was almost like a nightmare, because no one was saying or doing anything," Andrews says. "How can you talk about youth development, when you're sitting by doing nothing as youth are going home into a trash can?"

trash and mowing overgrown lawns. Then, as their name suggests, they just kept going. Along the way they encountered and disposed of all kinds of refuse, everything from liquor bottles and fast food packaging to old tires and even the contents of entire homes jettisoned during the housing market crisis.
 
That first year, Block By Block worked 26 consecutive Saturdays, clearing a patchwork zone spanning from I-94 between Dickerson and Chalmers south to East Warren Avenue. In 2013 they dedicated 31 consecutive Saturdays, starting on the opposite side of I-94 and moving south from Lannette Street between Chalmers and Hayes before eventually retracing their original turf. 
 
In the process of this they did a lot of community-building too.
 
Program volunteers have asked residents to refrain from littering and when possible recruit them help to keep their neighborhoods trash-free.
 
Residents see the activity and talk about getting their own neighbors out and cleaning up. “We're seeing a change in behavior in the incidents of littering, a ripple effects in terms of more people getting involved," Andrews says.
 
There’s been a shift in policy too. Over the last few years, Team 313 has been a vocal presence at public forums, drawing attention to the issue of blight. Andrews believes this advocacy helped put the topic on the public radar, pointing to Mayor Mike Duggan’s focus on blight and quality of life in city neighborhoods as a sign of progress.
 
She’s excited too about how youth involved with the program have been progressing.
 
Block By Block is just one of many activities sponsored by Team 313 aimed at encouraging positive values and teaching life skills to young Detroiters in the hopes of helping them achieve their dreams. Besides gardening and fitness programs, it also runs a book club and is setting up a youth cafe on the city’s west side that should open in June.
 
Like all of the Team 313 programs, Block By Block youth must learn the organization's CHARGE mantra before picking up a single tool. C stands for Can-do attitude, H for Hard-working, A for Achiever, R for Respect yourself and others, G for Goals, and E for Excellence.
 
Block By Block, in particular, stresses hard work and passing on skills like raking and lawn mower operation to youth who may not be acquainted with them.
 

There’s been a shift in policy too. Over the last few years, Team 313 has been a vocal presence at public forums, drawing attention to the issue of blight.

This character-building approach has definitely had its success stories.
 
A 15-year-old boy with kindergarten-level reading skills and a nearly non-existent work ethic was on the verge of dropping out of school when he joined the program, according to Andrews. After participating and getting tutoring from Team 313, though, he did a complete turnaround.
 
"He himself had seen what he was capable of,” Andrews says. "He's applying himself in school. He went from being one of the most low-output workers to a very high-output worker. He has attracted so many more youth to the program, and he's just more committed."
 
Another youth, who was a high-school dropout, got his GED after volunteering with the program and is now working at his first job ever with Target.
 
Taken as a whole, Andrews says the impact of Block By Block has been “unbelievable” both for the kids and the broader community.
 
"We're seeing a response. We're seeing hope, and we've achieved our objectives: getting this trash on the agenda, getting it in front of people's eyes," she says. "In terms of the children meeting each other, vibing around community and hard work, it’s great, and we're hoping that these bonds will be lasting bonds.”