Neighborhoods Day 2023 sees Metro Detroiters lending a helping hand
(CBS DETROIT) - People from across Detroit came out to show pride in their neighborhoods over the weekend for the 17th annual Neighborhoods Day put on by ARISE Detroit.
On the east side of Detroit, a small but determined group of Detroiters were making and keeping their alley beautiful.
"We try to keep the rodents down. We got possums, and we got raccoons," said Deborah Edwards.
Edwards is leading the charge for Neighborhoods Day but said she has been cleaning up the same alley since she was a kid, and doing that is important.
"They steal a lot of cars and park back here and drop them off, strip them back here and everything. So we have to call for them to come pick them up," said Edwards. "We try to keep it clean because we don't never know what's going to happen out here."
William Waterman is 80 years old, and he was right out there with Edwards and others to help out.
"If people see you doing the right thing, they're more inclined to do the right thing, I would hope," said Waterman.
Just a few streets over, we caught up with a different kind of Neighborhoods Day event. Dejuan Reed said he and his group of volunteers were giving out fragrances they made themselves for free to people in the community. Reed said although the fragrances are free on Neighborhoods Day, he usually sells them and is teaching the volunteers here how they can sell their fragrances.
"I have a fragrance line, and I am teaching them how to make a profit off of these," said Reed. "They know about the profit margins. They know exactly how much the fragrances cost, the bottles, the labels, and things like that, so it's a business program, but we are also having something tangible as well."
We ended Neighborhoods Day by taking in the chill vibe at the Ralston Project. They celebrated the day with music in the park.