Help from New York

I was pleasantly surprised to read about two separate and independent efforts to help Detroit from outside. For decades, Detroit was forgotten, but given the attention of recent years (from the Time house, the bailouts, the movie stars, etc.), people have noticed and want to help.

Time's Detroit Blog today posted about a group of Detroit expats living in New York City (a very heartening post: http://detroit.blogs.time.com/2010/10/25/only-635-miles-from-home/) who have started coming together to try and help the city from afar. One of the founders was working in a third world, central Asian republic, Kyrgyzstan, when she realized that Detroit needs just as much help, if not more. So far, it is focused on building networks and awareness, but it could become more. The effort (http://www.635mile.org/) has had a couple of meetings so far, and it could spread to other cities. It is also sending a delegation to Detroit in November for a "fact-finding" mission...it might present interesting inside-outside partnership opportunities.

That is only one of the NYC-based efforts helping Detroit that I read about today. The second effort is more indirect, through a global micro-grant site (kickstarter.com). Given the influx of artists to Detroit and groundswell of creative class activity, there are many art, film, and creative projects that can (and do) benefit from the funding opportunity presented by kickstarter.com. Detroit has been benefiting from out-sized donations for art-as-renewal projects by people around the world believing in Detroit and wanting to be part of the solution. For activists seeking to get started on a small project (e.g., micro-gardens maybe?), this could be a good start. This Free Press article has more details on the phenomenon: http://www.freep.com/article/20101025/NEWS05/10250375/1322/N.Y.-Web-site-gets-cash-from-all-over----a-lot-of-it-goes-to-Detroit