>> ... Next Generation ... Walking netrnif Among our many community partnerships is Bagley Elementary School. I go there twice a week to read, write and play with students in the Bagley Book Brigade. To engage the students and volunteers, I've started a journalism pen pal program partnering Bagley students with Hillel of Metro Detroit and Chalkfly, a school supply company with a social mission. This past week was the first exchange of notebooks. The smiles on my students' faces as they discovered a full-page letter — addressed and responding directly to them — filled them with wonder, appreciation and enthusiasm. The week before, these same students had assailed me with questions of whom we were writing to and how much information they had to give about themselves. But, as soon as the notebooks arrived, the barriers melted away and the rare guest of silence visited Maple Towers 5745-5755 MAPLE ROAD TERRIFIC WEST BLOOMFIELD LOCATION OFFICE/RETAIL SUITES FROM 323 SF - 2,000 SF Buildings have undergone extensive interior and exterior renovations! ❑ FREE RENT! t) TC71111 1121021 WWI IIIJLVLi r `..•••,• le • Walnut Lake Rd Orcha rd Lake Rd I do a lot of walking and traveling. This year, my feet brought me to Detroit. Here, I serve as "boots on the ground" — a notion I've always been uncomfortable with. Thick laces constrain and hard soles leave a deep impression on the Earth. But, as a Repair the World Fellow, I'm learning to tread well in Detroit. Prior to signing on with Repair the World, I lived on an ecological farm in Israeli grew up in Cincinnati, followed by DePaul University in Chicago. (But really, my story began in Ann Arbor, where I was born.) As my time overseas came to a close, I learned about an entrepreneurial fellowship based on community service, volunteering and Jewish reflection. This year, four of my "fellow Fellows" and I are living and working together to help support robust and resilient communities in Detroit. the room, followed by the quiet scratching of preconceived notions about the city. pencils on paper as they promptly responded. Detroit has stories being lived out in Moments like those at Bagley are what neighborhoods, shops, gardens, schools, Repair the World is looking to foster all the churches and local block clubs. We need to time: to build relationships, foster communal respect those stories —just as importantly, connection and engage in service involving all work to understand them — and, ultimately, sorts of people and all types of communities. to be part of them. From Downtown to the Metro area, I work, The task of repairing the world is not as learn and serve. Which brings me back to grand as the English for tikkun olam makes footwear. it out to be. Rather, the work of repairing the There's a lot of ground to cover and, when world is a small and personal task to mend I walk, I prefer wearing soft shoes on my feet. ourselves — and through our own listening, Soft shoes tread lightly and give a strong and learning and healing — the world. natural grip on whatever surface I come upon. In just two short months of walking Detroit, Michael Evers is a Repair the World Fellow liv- the stories I've heard from city residents, the ing in Detroit this year. To get involved with people I've met and what I've witnessed with Repair the World, visit werepairorg, email my own eyes have taught me a few lessons. detroit@werepairorg or call (313) 338-8236. There is an atmosphere of scarcity in Detroit — kind of. People are clustered in some neighborhoods while scattered in others. One evening while driving on the east side, I entered a stretch of city blocks with no streetlights on my way to the James and Grace Lee Boggs School. When I arrived at my destination, the building was full of light and packed with people. The contrast between the emptiness Michael Evers hanging out with friends at outside the school and the people Bagley Elementary School in Detroit inside made me confront my IMMEDIATE OCCUPANCY AMPLE PARKING WITH 100 SPACES GROUND SIGNAGE AVAILABLE Chris Secontine I 248-799-3174 csecontine@signatureassociates.com Jason Stough I 248-948-4180 jstough@signatureassociates.com 011114 CUSHMAN & II) WAKEFIELD® I SIGNATURE ASSOCIATES THE TEAM No Signature No Results '4111111Pr INDEPENDENTLY OWNED AND OPERATED One Towne Square, Suite 1200 I Southfield, MI 48076 FULL-SERVICE COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE www.signatureassociates.com N * Fammdlon Rd Maple Rd FOR LEASING INFORMATION, CONTACT 14 Mile Rd *Amount varies subject to lease term 1858140 34 oecember 26 • 2013 Di