metro

Not-So-Secret from page 18

As of 2010, the Brightmoor neigh-
borhood was home to more than
23,000 residents, representing a 36
percent decline in population since the
2000 census. Of the estimated 7,200
children under 18 in the neighbor-
hood, more than half live in poverty.
There are few employment opportuni-
ties within Brightmoor, and this situa-
tion is not expected to change notice-
ably in the near future.
Though many struggle on the most
basic level to feed, clothe and provide
for the health, education and well-
being of their families, Brightmoor
remains home to a vibrant community.
Devoted to the task of rebuilding the
neighborhood, many residents are
allied in a wide range of community
arts, cultural, recreational and educa-
tional organizations working to plant
the seeds of change.

Wishing you good health,
peace and happiness
on Rosh Hashanah.

Started With Youth Garden

The area called Brightmoor Farmway
is the initiative of Neighbors Building
Brightmoor, a nonprofit co-founded
by Riet Schumack in 2009. A trans-
plant from the Netherlands and a
Michigander for more than 30 years,
Schumack moved from Rosedale Park
into Brightmoor with her husband,
Mark, and their children in 2006.
Schumack started the Youth Garden
as a strategy to deter blight and crime,
and as a means to provide a safe green
space in which children could learn
the practical skills of teamwork and
simple gardening.
The plan has worked something of a
miracle. What started as a project with
her own family and a couple of chil-
dren down the street blossomed into
a business the following year when
Schumack and her young garden-
ers had the opportunity to take their
produce to market in partnership with
Greening of Detroit. "We made $200
inside of an hour on that day, and it
was a like a light bulb went on for all
of us:' Schumack says.

State Representative
Klint Kesto

Gaining Ground
The Brightmoor Youth Garden has
snowballed into a full-fledged neigh-
borhood association. To date, more
than 75 families have joined Neighbors
Building Brightmoor (NBB). With
its legion of 1,400 volunteers and
youth employees logging an average
of 16,000 hours a year, NBB has cre-
ated more than 50 gardens, moved
mountains of trash and debris from
abandoned properties, boarded up
more than 150 houses, and cleaned
up and mowed hundreds of lots in the
neighborhood.
"Gardening, neighborhood beau-
tification and community-building
all work naturally and organically

Orchard Lake Rd. • South of Maple • West Bloomfield

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20

ptember 25 • 2014

The Brightmoor Youth Garden

together; Schumack says. "Minimally,
children working in the garden learn
what it takes to grow fruits and veg-
etables and that is a skill they never
forget. Sharing in the profit from the
produce they sell at market, the chil-
dren learn to work as teams, show up
on time, learn to dress appropriately,
acquire social skills. By the age of 16
they are job ready and able to mentor
the younger children coming into the
program."

Focus On Kids First

"There are not a lot of jobs in Detroit;
says Carole Hawke, co-director of
the Brightmoor Youth Garden with
Schumack, "Many people here reach
adulthood without ever having devel-
oped the skills and experience to start
working. Those skills aren't second
nature; they're not obvious. If you're
not taught them, you don't have an
opportunity to learn. So we are proud
of breaking that cycle for our kids."
A teacher at Robishaw High School,
Hawke and her family live next door
to the Youth Garden on Grayfield, and
her two children have come through
the program.
"I'm not much of a gardener,
myself:' she says, "but I love working
with youth. As a profit share, the busi-
ness encourages a work ethic. Each
season we tabulate our earnings and
the hours everyone has worked. The
more we earn as a group, the better
we all do. Those who work the most
hours make the most money. When we
start with young gardeners — 9 and 10
years old — we understand they can
be playful, but they quickly learn that