Detroit ? The Ford Motor Co. Fund is launching a $10 million program called Operation Brighter Future in Southwest Detroit that will include a community center, a Gleaners Community Food Bank center and other community services.
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and Ford Chief Operating Officer Mark Fields on Tuesday announced the partnership between the Ford Fund, the city and the Mexicantown Community Development Corp.
The Ford Resource and Engagement Center will open at the previously vacant Mexicantown Mercado Building on Bagley Avenue.
The building will house cultural and job training programs, and a Gleaners center.
"This building ? has sat empty for several years," Bing said Tuesday. "The new Ford Resource and Engagement Center will certainly add to the revitalization efforts of Detroit."
Ford will provide funding for local nonprofits to run those programs and with resources to operate the facility for at least four years.
Ford also will adopt the Patton Recreation Center in the same area and provide art- and sports-related programs for area youths.
The Ford Fund will additionally provide funding for a "Camp Brighter Future" at Patton Recreation Center, which will accommodate as many as 90 young people. Ford also will offer some scholarships for the camp.
"We know the importance of building strong communities everywhere," Fields said.
Ford is also donating two F-Series truck chassis, which will be turned into new ambulances for the city.
"One of the biggest complaints that I get on the public safety side is our response time from an EMS standpoint," Bing said.
"Because of the city's financial difficulties, we've been unable for years to make the necessary investments to get new vehicles or even maintain the ones that we have."
Operation Brighter Future also will provide funding for a summer youth employment program and offer support for Greening of Detroit, a not-for-profit organization that aims to reforest the Motor City.
khenkel@detnews.com
(313) 222-2504
Source: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121219/METRO01/212190352/1148/rss25
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