Mayor's Initiatives and Programs

Mayoral Fellowship Program

The Mayoral Fellowship Program is a premier opportunity for engaged, motivated, and civic-minded graduate/undergraduate students from all disciplines to apply their coursework to one of the greatest municipalities in the world: the City of Detroit.

Interns will serve the people of Detroit by supporting policy, communications, and public engagement initiatives within the city government. By working hand-in-hand with senior staff across many different City of Detroit departments and sister agencies throughout the city, interns will offer recommendations and possibly implement programs that improve the lives of Detroit's 673,000 residents. This unique opportunity to work with current decision makers and assist in the implementation of strategy will distinguish you and your skillset to any future employer.

 

Strong community response to ShotStoppers Community Violence reduction plan lets City expand strategy to 6 areas

• Each group will serve a defined geographic area, with the ability to earn performance grants up to $700K based on success reducing violence
• Innovative crime reduction strategy funded by President Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act
• The 6 community-based organizations began work August 1^st   

Mayor Mike Duggan announced that six community-based organizations have been selected through a competitive bid process to conduct community violence intervention (CVI) through the new ShotStoppers program.  That number is twice what the mayor said he originally expected, but proposals came in so strong he has decided to expand the original scope of the program.

Violence Hotspots and ShotStoppers Organizations

Each selected group is responsible for reducing homicides and shootings in a 3.5 to 4.5 square mile area, called a CVI Zone, using their own violence prevention strategy. Applicants were empowered to propose a specific approach based on their experience, expertise, and knowledge of the local community. Each group will receive a base budget of $700,000 to execute their strategy, with the ability to earn performance grants up to an additional $700,000, to sustain and expand their work, if they successfully reduce homicides and shootings.

The program, which is the first of its kind in the nation, is being fully funded by President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act. The ultimate cost of the program will be determined by each group’s success reducing violence in their area and the performance-based grants they receive as a result. Duggan said that doubling the number of ShotStoppers areas would increase the cost of the program beyond the original $10 million allocated, but he is prepared to request supplemental funding approval from City Council, if needed, for the second year of the initiative.  

The groups selected through the procurement process are:

Together, these organizations have decades of experience preventing and responding to violence – but ShotStoppers will be the first time that the City of Detroit provides funding to strengthen and expand CVI services to community organizations and measure results to determine which approaches work best.

The initial contract term will run from July 1, 2023 through July 31, 2024. The City will evaluate the program’s impacts during the first year, and if the results are promising, will seek to extend the program further.

Highly-competitive selection process

The City selected these six community organizations from a pool of 25 applicants who responded to the Notice of Funding Availability released in March, reflecting the overwhelming interest in the program.

To apply, each organization proposed a specific CVI Zone and the strategy and tactics that they would employ there. Applicants could select from a broad range of CVI tactics, including street outreach, violence interruption, connecting at-risk individuals with wraparound services, and addressing community conditions that contribute to violence, or propose new tactics as well. Applicants had to demonstrate a detailed, feasible strategy to reduce violence in their Zone, as well as the prior experience and organizational capacity to implement it effectively.

The application also required demonstrating the ability to appropriately manage a significant grant award of federal funds and maintain the highest standards for financial management and compliance with federal and city rules. Each of the six selected organizations has partnered with a fiduciary organization with extensive experience managing federal funds to support grant management and provide technical assistance.

For more information about the ShotStoppers program, please contact the Program Administrator, Michael “Mike” Peterson, II at [email protected]

Affordable Housing for Detroiters

Mayor Mike Duggan and Detroit City Council Members Mary Waters, Latisha Johnson, and Angela Calloway have developed a 7-point, $203 million plan to develop affordable housing options for Detroiters to be funded in 2022.

The plan includes converting long-vacant apartment buildings and Land Bank homes into affordable rental housing, additional housing support resources, getting faster City approval for deeply affordable housing projects, down payment assistance to increase home ownership, help for landlords to bring their rental properties into compliance, rapid-placement for good-paying jobs and more.

• 7 Point, $203 Million Plan for 2022
• Left Field Residential Development

Read more about the 7-point plan and other affordable housing efforts here

Bridging Neighborhoods Program

The Bridging Neighborhoods Program administers the Home Swap and I-75 Environmental Mitigation community benefits programs for residents impacted by the Gordie Howe International Bridge in Southwest Detroit and community benefits funded home repair programs including the Ford Home Repair program and Phase II of the FCA Home Repair program. 

Read more about the Bridging Neighborhoods Program

Roosevelt Park

When completed in spring 2023, the currently 9.5-acre park will grow to 13 acres after the road removal and reconfiguration. It also will include a promenade connecting Michigan Avenue to The Station, a new pedestrian gateway entrance at Michigan Avenue, key neighborhood entryways and walkways, plaza spaces, event lawns, benches and tables for seating and landscaping. The newly-unified park will serve as an amenity, not only for southwest Detroit residents but also for the 5,000 workers who will be employed at Michigan Central.  

“One of the biggest things driving our city’s revitalization is what we’ve done to create more and better parks and green space in our neighborhoods,” said Mayor Duggan. “In this area of Southwest Detroit alone, we just broke ground on the Southwest Greenway portion of the Joe Louis Greenway and the incredible Ralph C. Wilson Centennial Park along the west Riverfront. This transformation of Roosevelt Park will be another major benefit to residents and visitors of this area of southwest Detroit.”

Read more about the renovation of Roosevelt Park

Grow Detroit's Young Talent 2022

The Grow Detroit’s Young Talent (GDYT) program is in its eighth year and has now surpassed the milestone of over 60,000 summer job experiences created for Detroit youth.

“After two years of having to launch the GDYT program at smaller events due to COVID-19, it’s great to be able to hold our launch announcement back in the neighborhoods again this year,” said Mayor Duggan. “The launch of GDYT is one of my favorite events of the year, as the program showcases and grows the talents of youth who will be our leaders 10, 20, 30 years from now. With over 8,000 summer job experiences this year, we are making our 60,000th GDYT summer job available in 2022.”

Read more about Grow Detroit's Young Talent 

Neighborhood Beautification Fund

The NBP grants provide funding for Detroit-based neighborhood associations, block clubs, faith-based organizations, and nonprofits that currently own the property where they want to carry out a project in the community. The Neighborhood Beautification Program was created to support three types of projects:

• Clean-up activities
• Community gardens
• Public spaces/activities

For those hoping to beautify their community but do not own the land, the NBP will assist organizations with purchasing or leasing vacant lots owned by the Detroit Land Bank Authority. Up to 50 projects a year will receive funding.

“Detroiters are proud of their communities and want to roll up their sleeves and beautify the streets they call home, they just need financial help to do so,” said Mayor Duggan. “These grants are a great example of how the City of Detroit is partnering with residents to help beautify their neighborhoods.”

Read more about the Neighborhood Beautification Fund