Rx Kids Program

Mayor Mary Sheffield announced the first major partnership of her historic administration and it is tailored to meet the needs of the City's most vulnerable. Rx Kids is the nation’s first community-wide parent and infant cash prescription program, providing life-changing financial security to families during the critical period of pregnancy and infancy.

Rx Kids Benefits

No strings attached direct cash assistance.

• $1,500 during pregnancy
• $500 per month for baby's first 6 months

• Identity
• Residency
• Pregnancy
• List of acceptable documents

Rx Kids is a program of Michigan State University and administered by GiveDirectly.

Learn more about RxKids here.

 

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.

ShotStoppers Community Violence Intervention Program Expands

Thanks to community-led public safety strategies and reductions in violent crime, the City expanded the ShotStoppers CVI program to now include seven community organizations. These groups provide mentorship and conflict resolution skills to at-risk residents as well as interrupt violence to prevent further escalation. 

Learn More here

Grow Detroit's Young Talent

Grow Detroit’s Young Talent (GDYT), the City’s official summer jobs program for local youth, registration portal opens Friday, March 13 at 9 a.m. The application portal can be found at GDYT.org, and will remain open through May 15, 2026, at 11:59 p.m.

The GDYT program is hosted annually to connect Detroit youth, ages 14-24, to summer employment. Participants will work with corporate employers, small businesses, community organizations and partners throughout the Metro Detroit area, and across a wide range of City of Detroit departments.

Read more about Grow Detroit's Young Talent here 

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.

Read more about the Neighborhood Beautification Fund

Ride to Rise

Mayor Sheffield launched Ride to Rise: Show ID, Students Ride Free, an initiative that removes one of the most overlooked barriers standing between Detroit's young people and their future: getting there.

Students simply present their valid school-issued ID to the bus operator upon boarding — no app, no pass, no paperwork required. The program covers all standard City bus routes, any time of day, seven days a week.

Who qualifies: Any K–12 student enrolled in public, charter, or private school with a valid school-issued ID. 
When it's valid: 7 days a week and 365 days because learning doesn't stop at 3 p.m. or on summer vacation. 

PROGRAM GOALS

• Reduce chronic absenteeism by removing cost and access as barriers to getting to school 
• Connect students to opportunity including after-school programs, libraries, community centers, internships, and enrichment activities
• Support working families by reducing the transportation burden on parents and guardians 
• Build ridership habits that benefit students well into adulthood 

Read more about Ride to Rise here 

Restore Mid-Block Lighting plan

Mayor Sheffield directed the Public Lighting Authority (PLA) to implement a plan to install at least 3,000 new mid-block lights on neighborhood residential streets. The Sheffield Administration’s plan will prioritize installing lighting in the “mid-block” areas of Detroit neighborhoods, in many cases doubling visibility between corner lights all across Detroit as a result.  

Before finalizing the lighting plan, the City of Detroit and the PLA will host a series of community input meetings in every City Council district during the month of April. At these meetings, residents will have the opportunity to review existing lighting data and provide feedback about where additional mid-block lighting is most needed. Meeting outcomes will guide the final placement of lights to ensure the investment reflects neighborhood priorities.

Community Meeting Schedule

All community meetings will be held from 6 – 8 p.m.

District            Date                Location

District 1           April 13            Crowell Rec Center, 16630 Lahser

District 2          April 15             Adams Butzel Rec Center, 10500 Lyndon

District 3          April 20             Farwell Rec Center, 2711 E. Outer Drive

District 4          April 22             AB Ford Community Center, 100 Lenox Ave

District 5          April 27             Coleman Young Rec Center, 2751 Robert Bradby Drive

District 6          April 29             Roberto Clemente Rec Center, 2631 Bagley Ave.  

District 7          April 30             Carpenters & Millwrights Regional HQ, 11687 American  

Learn more about Mid-Block Lighting plan here.

Mayor's Executive Order to increase Affordable Housing Trust Fund

Mayor Sheffield signed an Executive Order directing that going forward 100 percent of proceeds from the sale of City-owned commercial property will go to the Affordable Housing Development and Preservation Trust Fund.

The change will more than double the minimum amount the City contributes to the Trust Fund each year to an estimated $4 million. Mayor Sheffield’s Executive Order takes effect July 1, 2026 to coincide with the start of the new fiscal year.

The Trust Fund provides gap financing, low-interest loans, and grants to developers to keep units affordable and prevent displacement. The Detroit Affordable Housing and Development Preservation Fund supports construction, rehabilitation, and preservation of affordable housing units, with a major focus on protecting residents from rising costs.

Read more about the Affordable Housing Trust Fund here.

Coordinated enforcement & legal strategy to address unsafe residential buildings

Mayor Sheffield and BSEED announced a series of new strategies to address Detroit's most significant “tipping point” apartment buildings and rental properties at risk of becoming uninhabitable and causing displacement due to health and safety violations. The City would start using new tougher legal approaches to achieve code compliance to ensure issues are addressed before they escalate into larger issues.  

This initiative is anchored in three coordinated actions that identify risk earlier, intervene faster, and enforce compliance when necessary:  

• Greater coordination between BSEED and the Detroit Health Department to conduct joint building inspections and refer buildings with significant health and safety violations to the Law Department. 
• Initiating court-enforced consent agreements with known problem properties through the law department.  
• Placing liens through the Department of Appeals and Hearings on properties that have multiple unpaid tickets for blight and/or not being code compliant.

Learn more about the new strategies here.