GOAL: $3000 contributors: 15 raised: $1050.33 end date: 10/23/2011 35% FUNDED [PROJECT CLOSED]

We live in a society where success and failure are measured in terms of economic profit and loss. Although these definitions are sometimes necessary they become problematic when we apply them to situations that cannot be evaluated in economic terms. Material things such as roads, street lights, school buildings, are community assets that lend themselves to an economic calculus. So as societies we make plans to provide these assets because there is a tangible value present. If we understand that public infrastructure is an asset to be cultivated then shouldn’t we recognize our most obvious assets? As communities how do we cultivate, reward and recognize PEOPLE? Angie Johnson has been a stalwart member her north corktown neighborhood; a reassuring and steady presence as she quietly cared for her neighbors and neighborhood. For the better part of her adult life, angie (or ms. johnson as she is known in the neighborhood), worked two jobs while raising two kids as a single mother. She used whatever extra income she had to help her neighbors and keep the neighborhood clean; employing out-of-work neighborhors to mow vacant property. Over the last 40 years she has single handedly taken care of her entire city block, keeping it clean and safe. In this way she helped foster neighborhood pride while providing modest work for the most financially vulnerable members of her community. Now 70 years old, Angie, like many other people, has been adversely affected by the current economy. Since being laid-off from work three years ago, angie is currently living on a fixed social security income (that is largely consumed by maintaining her home). As a result she could no longer afford to stay in the home she has lived in for over 40 years. Angie was persuaded by friends and family to move in with her daughter next door leaving her home now unoccupoed. If her home remains without an occupant it could be foreclosed on. This will be devastating for a neighborhood working hard to maintain control of the few homes that remain. A group of residents have decided to renovate angie's home and make it rent- ready. This provides angie much needed (rental) income, allowing her to live with some measure of financial secuity and the dignity befitting her contribution to the community. A new tenant also increases neighborhood desnity, growing a community where even one more person means an added layer of support and safety. This is a community initiated response to the severe challenges of blight, population decline and social care for the elderly, affecting many detroit communities.