Opportunity is knocking at many Detroit neighborhoods. Investors would like to invest. People would like to move in. Retail would like to be there to serve the community.

But before all that can happen, those neighborhoods must transform and reimagine themselves and then need to find the resources needed to improve their communities.

That’s the focus of the 8th annual ARISE Detroit! Neighborhoods Rising Summit, “Neighborhoods of Opportunity.” The goal is to equip residents with strategies to improve their neighborhoods.

The free event will be held, Saturday, Nov. 4 at the downtown campus of Wayne County Community College District, 1001 W. Fort St.It runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.  and includes a continental breakfast and lunch.

The summit will feature discussions on steering development to improve neighborhoods as well as promote inclusive and diverse opportunities for job training and neighborhood entrepreneurship.

“With all the talk about the so-called two Detroits, we thought it was important to highlight efforts and opportunities to build equity into Detroit development and job opportunities,” says Luther Keith, executive director of ARISE Detroit! “The summit offers a way for the community to learn about such opportunities and, more importantly, take advantage of them.”

Sponsored by the Kresge Foundation, the DTE Energy Foundation and Detroit Future City, the summit includes 12 workshops and more than 50 community leaders offering expertise in neighborhood transformation, including:

• Connecting neighborhood entrepreneurs to funding sources and promoting neighborhood entrepreneurship
• Home buying through the Detroit Land Bank and other programs
• Fighting crime and curtailing blight
• Using community collaborations to procure volunteers and sponsors for community projects
• Finding jobs and overcoming barriers to employment
• Finding funding and strategic planning support for neighborhood projects
• Pathways to create strong community leaders
• Millennial leadership, focusing on what that millennial generation is doing to help neighborhoods

Please click here to register for the summit.

Workshops will be held from 10:45 a.m. to noon and from 1:45 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Here is a list of the workshops:

Morning sessions 10:45 a.m. – noon

• Entrepreneurship: How I Got There: Entrepreneurs tell the key to their success and offer advice to aspiring entrepreneurs
• Home Buying in Detroit: How to use Detroit Land Bank and other programs for home purchases
• Organizing and Planning: How to form block clubs, develop neighborhood strategies and build coalitions
• Positively Programming Youth: Connecting young people to programs to help them make good life choices
• Public Safety: Restorative Practices to Make Safer Neighborhoods: Crime fighting strategies, neighborhood patrols, peace walks and more
• Eating Right:  How to create urban gardens, farmers markets and smart food policy for Detroit

Afternoon sessions 1:45 p.m. – 3 p.m.

• Creating Neighborhood Leaders:  Acquiring the skills and knowledge to become an effective and ethical community leader
• Getting To Next Level: How to connect your group to funding and strategic planning programs to improve your neighborhood.

• Hire It Done: Overcoming job barriers, connecting to training and job programs
• Millennials In Action:  Millennials working to transform Detroit involving social causes, community development and more
• Collaborations For Change: How to work with other organizations to secure volunteers, sponsors, support for neighborhood projects
• Finding Capital for Entrepreneurship: Finding and securing mini-grants to help neighborhood entrepreneurs

Please click here to register and select your workshops.

  ARISE Detroit, ARISE Detroit! Neighborhoods Rising Summit, Detroit neighborhood improvement efforts, growth in Detroit neighborhoods, Wayne County Community College District