Twenty-five Cody High School students will work summer jobs at DTE Energy, while 15 men from the Cody Rouge neighborhood further their knowledge of plumbing, carpentry, and painting, through a training program. Meanwhile, thousands of other Cody Rouge youth and families will gain various benefits from General Motors, Quicken Loans and the Skillman Foundation in a collaborative effort with the Cody Rouge Community Action Alliance and other leaders, they announced today.

A plan was unveiled after an eight-month strategy during which residents met and interacted to define goals for Cody Rouge’s future development, detailing corporate support in the forms of volunteer assistance, employment and other resources. Neighborhood stabilization, safety, land use, strengthened commercial corridors, support for community groups, and expanded opportunities for youth are some of the key areas in the collaboration for overall improvement.

Along with DTE’s contributions, General Motors will debut a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics) camp for youth at its annual GM Cares community improvement program, which will deploy more than 3,000 volunteers in July.

Quicken Loans will assist in redevelopment of vacant homes and long-term plans to prevent tax foreclosure through its Rehabbed and Ready program, while also helping to update Stein Park. In addition, the Cody Rouge community facility Don Bosco Hall will receive gigabit internet service from Rocket Fiber, launched by a former Quicken Loans technology team partner, while the Skillman Foundation will fund Cody Rouge education efforts, after recently completing a 10-year grant.

Together with DTE, Skillman is funding more than 500 Grow Detroit’s Young Talent summer employment positions, including 160 jobs with Greening of Detroit. DTE also is planting 100 trees in Cody Rouge, while the Foundation funded 1,000 carbon monoxide detectors for families in the neighborhood.

Residents of the community joined the corporate and philanthropic representatives to share details of the planned contributions and vision for progress. For more information about Cody Rouge programs, organizations and opportunities visit www.codyrouge.org.

Editor’s note: Our lead photo shows Quicken Loans staff volunteers at Henderson Academy during a Cody Rouge neighborhood cleanup.

File photos by Paul Engstrom

  Cody High School, Cody Rouge Community Action Alliance, Don Bosco Hall, DTE Energy, General Motors, GM Cares, Greening of Detroit, Kenyetta V. Campbell, Quicken Loans, Skillman Foundation