4B - Thursday, October 3, 2013
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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Each week we take shots at the biggest
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Design by Nick Cruz
DETROIT SOUP
From Page 1B
6:00 p.m. Simeon Heyer, owner
of the old Jam Handy, paid $13,000
for the building, a fact he still has
trouble wrappinghis mind around.
"I don't have any money," Heyer
said with a laugh. "The idea of me
owning anything is absurd."
Wearing a thin green sweater
and pants that sagged low on his
waist, he leaned against a wall in a
corner near the entrance, a canary
fluttering in a birdcage by his side
next to a semi-circle of chairs hold-
ingukuleles for aperformance later
in the night - the canary belonged
to the club
Originally from Minnesota,
Heyer moved to Detroit from
Madison, Wisconsin when he was
"bitten by the bug" - attracted,
like many others, to the city's do-it-
yourself culture. But, more impor-
tantly, he wanted to be in a place
where he felt he could make a dif-
ference.
"In Madison, you have a lot of
DIY stuff that's not necessary,"
he said. "Whereas here there are
so many things that are needed,
whether it's SOUP or just a get-
together."
He bought the building with
his brother three years ago as an
acquisition property from Wayne
County. After the Jam Handy
organization left in the late 1970s,
the property transitioned into a
televised church, Faith for Amer-
ica, followed by a string of other
churches and even, for a time, a
karate studio, before it became
deserted, Heyer said.
Renovating the property, for
him, has become "more than a
full-time job." it's a "lifestyle," he
said, funded by creative ventures
to which he rentsthe space, such as
theatre groups and Detroit SOUP.
He makes fixes based on necessity
- fundraising for heating, install-
ing plumbing, electricity. "Stuff
happens asnit's needed," he said.
His view of the space reflects
the kind of ground-up, communi-
ty-building mentality inherent to
SOUP.
"To the unaccustomed eye this
neighborhood looks bombed out
and unsafe. But it's not," he said.
"As with a lot of parts of Detroit,
people need a reason to go there.
I think SOUP, and a lot of things
that happen here, are a testament
to what people trusting each other
can accomplish."
For the time being, he said, part
of the city's character resides in
individuals' willingness to rely on
each other - after all, they kind of
have to.
"The city being weak and disor-
ganized creates terrible problems
for a lot of people," he said. "But
it also creates opportunities. And
the city is not capable of breathing
down your neck. This wouldn't be
possible anywhere else."
7:00 p.m. The word "democra-
cy" comes to mind. Before a crowd
of about 300, presenters get four
minutes each to share their ideas
and woo their peers for votes. Once
the presentations finish, in infor-
mal give-and-take sessions remi-
niscent of a town-hall meeting,
audience members ask questions,
grilling presenters on how exactly
they plan to spend the money.
"That's my favorite part," said
LSA senior Isabella Morrison, who
started a SOUP-style dinner in
Ann Arbor back in March. "People
want to know where their money is
going."
Proposals are submitted on
Detroit SOUP's website, with a
cutoff date of the Sunday before
the dinner. Typically receiving
between 10 and 25 submissions per
month, Kaherl and asteam of neigh-
borhood SOUP leaders decide
which four submissions appear
most dedicated to helping Detroit
and most deserve the chance to
present. Winners are then required
to return to a later SOUP to report
on how they have used the money,
a means of holding them account-
able.
As Kaherl told the crowd before
presentations began, there are
two rules to presenting at Detroit
SOUP: Projects must be about
Detroit and technology cannot be
used to present, in keepingwith the
stripped-down, barebones vibe of
the event. Still, later in the evening,
Kaherl introduced the new mobile
Detroit SOUP app, allowing you
to keep up with all things SOUP-
related around the city.
Tonight's four presenters
include Green Living Science,
a non-profit devoted to educat-
ing Detroit youth on environ-
mental issues; Eve's Angels, an
organization that aids women
trapped in the sex industry; Proj-
ect PEACE, an organization that
aids families of prisoners and ex-
felons; and Ec2 Lab, a mentor-
ing program fostering creativity
among young people.
Though some presenters were
poised, others grew nervous
from anxiety - four minutes is
just not much time. At one point,
Felisha Hatcher-Taylor, present-
ing with her daughter Jordan
on behalf of Ec2 Lab, broke into
tears, overcome with emotion.
"We won," she said after pre-
senting. "The fact that we were
here to raise awareness - that is
winning."
Kaherl, acting as the evening's
emcee, implored everyone, if
they had any ideas for funding
or support for these organiza-
tions outside of SOUP, to write
their ideas on a sticky note and
post the notes on posters near
the voting table by the building's
rear exit.
"Even though only one project
is going home with the money
raised this evening, everyone
goes home a winner!" read a
pamphlet distributed on each
table.
When presentations con-
clude, people literally break
bread with their neighbors. Dis-
cussions of the projects were
encouraged.
"Turn to your neighbor and
ask this question: What proj-
ect are you going to vote for?"
Kaherl told the crowd before
people began lining up for soup
and salad, provided by Avalon
Bakery.
8:00 p.m. Before leaving her
home in Munich, Germany for a
week-long trip to Detroit, There-
sa Juranek knew one thing about
the city: The food is cheap.
"We only read bad stuff about
The Detroit SOUP program meets once a month at the od Jam Handy building on C
it back in Germany," Juranek, 29,
said at her table, surrounded by
people she'd only met minutes
earlier. "You just read about how
bad it is, and we wanted to see if
it was true."
An automotive journalist,
she's here with her boyfriend
Axel Gundermann, a photog-
rapher, to research and write a
more positive story about Detroit
for people back home.
The reality, they said, has been
a welcome surprise. In their
short stay, they've been charmed
by the city's warm and welcom-
ing atmosphere. When they meet
Detroiters on the street, they're
engaged in friendly conversa-
tion, which wouldn't happen
back home, they said.
Between mouthfuls of bread,
Gundermann said an event like
SOUP would likely fail back in
Germany. When asked why, he
turned to Juranek and spoke a
few words to her in rapid-fire
German. After a moment, they
both sighed.
"(Germans) are too uptight,"
he said. "For whatever reason,
crowdfunding works much bet-
ter in the U.S."
While Kaherl said SOUP has
become more formal since its
creation three years ago, the
atmosphere here is mellow.
Engineering junior Chelsea
Pugh helped start a t-shirt com-
pany called DCH Apparel with
four other University students
last year that teaches design
and marketing skills to students
at Detroit Community High
School. The company won fund-
ing at last December's SOUP
dinner. What began as a class
project in "Change by Design,"
a class in the Penny W. Stamps
School of Art & Design, has per-
sisted - thanks, in part, to the
SOUP micro-grant.
Pugh remembers the casual,
laid-back atmosphere from when
her group won nearly a year ago.
"There are some events where
it's really professional and every-
one's dressed up and pitching
these entrepreneurial ideas,"
she said. "But (at SOUP) it was
really nice to see that everyone
was a normal person. It wasn't
like venture capitalists or any-
thing. It was normal people who
wanted good ideas in their com-
munity."
More than just time to think
about voting, the dinner itself is
a kind of theatrical experience.
A bearded man in a top hat goes
table to table, lecturing strang-
ers on the vital importance of
the <em>schwa</em> sound in
linguistics as a means to develop
a universal, global language; a
ukulele club performed; a small
child chased a dog through the
crowded mass of bodies.
But mainly people chat, net-
working and finding new ways
of working with each other to get
ideas and projects started.
"What I like about it is that
the people are deciding," said
Mary Luevanos, a Detroiter and
president of the Community for
Latino Artists Visionaries and
Educators. "The folks here are
making the decision and when
they're done with it they go off
and use the money thatthey need
it for. It's not a foundation decid-
ing. No one's pulling the strings."
8:45 p.m. The winner is
announced: It's Eve's Angels, the
organization dedicated to assisting
women in the sex trade. Marissa
Sheehy, presenting for the organi-
zation and a self-described "res-
cued angel," says the $1,519 they've
received will help establish a safe
house for the girls.
"We won $1,500, whichis amaz-
ing for speaking for four minutes,"
she said shortly after winning.
By night's end, crumbs and
plastic bowls lined with red
streaks of soup sauce lie scattered
across tables. Yet, within min-
utes, the plywood, tablecloths,
collapsible chairs, candles, bread
and soup are whisked away in
MARLENE LACASSE/Daily
Detroit's East Grand Boulevard.
efficient fashion by eager, capa-
ble volunteers, jumping at the
chance to help clean up and play
their part.
Soon, the room is empty, save
for a few stay-behinds. A group
of bearded men in flannel shirts
and tight pants drinks beer and
laugh by the bar. Most of them
live in the neighborhood; some
live in the same building. Sheehy
does a video interview, still in
shock over her win.
Standing by the entrance,
where a man has begun to play
a white piano, Kaherl lets out a
deep breath. She says the event
was a success.
"Everyone walked away with
some sort of resource, some sort
of knowledge about how they can
participate together," she said.
She plans on taking the next day
off, but then it's right back to
work. "With Detroit SOUP we're
just going to keep moving into
neighborhoods, giving people
the chance to share their hearts,
their ideas."
And by the rear exit, Heyer is
locked in heated conversation
with two friends, who are also
heavy into the Detroit-renova-
tion scene. He gestures wildly,
like a man possessed, as he dis-
cusses the many buildings he
knows of in the city that deserve
repurposing.
When asked what's next for
the old Jam Handy now that
Detroit SOUP has finished, he
shrugs. SOUP will be back in
November, he says. Until then a
couple will get married here the 6
following weekend, a theatre
group might use it for rehearsal
space. But primarily, he'll keep
working - maybe adding lights,
painting walls, replacing doors.
Whatever it is that needs to be
done.
"As with most things here,
everything's so informal," he
said. "We just do a little bit at a
time. It's still mostly just a shell
of a building."
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