Michigan Chronicle - Fifth Third Bank provides $50,000 to Detroit Micro-enterprise Fund

The Detroit Institute for Children Needs Your Vote to Win the Art Van Milli…

Community 05-18-2013 Hits:50

The Organization is Competing in Art Van Furniture’s Third Annual Million Dollar Charity Challenge Bonus Challenge The Detroit Institute for Children (DIC) needs your help - not in dollars, but in votes! Through May 30, you can vote daily for the organization in the Art Van Million Dollar Charity Challenge Bonus Challenge. The top three charities with the most votes will win grants of $25,000, $15,000 or $10,000. DIC supporters can vote by going towww.artvancharitychallenge.com. “We’ve seen our children take their first steps, say their first words, and feed themselves for the first time, often when their families were told they would never be capable of doing so.” For almost 100 years, the Detroit Institute for Children (DIC) has been one of Michigan’s largest stand-alone clinics providing life-changing medical and rehabilitative care to children with conditions such as cerebral palsy, neuromuscular diseases, developmental delays, autism spectrum disorders, genetic syndromes, and traumatic injuries. “The intervention services we provide truly transform our patients’ and their families’ quality of life,” says Mark Cleary, President and CEO. “We’ve seen our children take their first steps, say their first words, and feed themselves for the first time, often when their families were told they would never be capable of doing so.” The Detroit Institute for Children truly fills a void in the Metro Detroit healthcare system. The organization’s services are available to all children, including children from inner city, low-income families with little to no insurance who are generally denied elsewhere. “With medical and therapy costs easily adding up to $100,000s every year per patient, the Art Van grant could help fund thousands of therapy sessions for our children,” adds Cleary. Since 2009, Art Van Furniture has raised an impressive $17.5 million for 150 Michigan charities through its challenge component. To vote for the DIC, or for more information, please visit www.artvancharitychallenge.com. And to learn more about the DIC, please visit our website at www.detroitchildren.org.

Some City of Detroit Offices Closed on May 20 for Budget-Required Furlough

Community 05-17-2013 Hits:452

Some City of Detroit offices will be closed on Monday, May 20 for budget-required furlough (BRF): · Board of Ethics · City Council · Communications & Creative Services Division & Total Copy Center · Detroit Building Authority · Greater Detroit Resource Recovery Authority (GDRRA) · Human Resources (with the exception of Payroll Division) · Human Rights · Mayor’s Office · Purchasing Division (Finance Department) · Recreation (Administration, Recreation Centers & Community Affairs) However, these departments will be open on May 20: · Buildings, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department (BSEED) · Department of Public Works · Finance Department (Income Tax, Assessments, Property Tax & Treasury) · Planning & Development Department

LAST MOTOR CITY MAKEOVER CLEANUP IS IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST AREAS ON S…

Community 05-17-2013 Hits:93 Michigan Chronicle Staff

Volunteers are invited to join hundreds of others cleaning and beautifying neighborhoods throughout the central and southwest sides of Detroit on Saturday, May 18, as Motor City Makeover moves into its last weekend. Motor City Makeover is a bagged litter campaign that encourages volunteers to participate in a citywide cleanup by sector. The campaign is part of a larger City initiative called Keep Detroit Beautiful, which focuses on cleaning, beautification, recycling, adopting parks and vacant lots, and gardening. Below are some of the many sites being cleaned on Saturday, May 18. Henry Ford Hospital Contact: Meagan Pitts-Dunn (313) 475-3993 Chauncey Samuel, Recreation Community Affairs Manager, (313) 207-8416 Location: Martin Luther King Jr. Park at W. Grand Boulevard & Rosa Parks Time: 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Volunteers: 50+ Northend Neighbors Contact person: Phillis Judkins (313)815-1440 Location: Northeast Corner of Kenilworth & Brush/West corner of Josephine and Owens Streets Time: 9 a.m. – Noon Volunteers - 100 Focus:HOPE Contact Person: Mary Simpson (313) 492-4292 Location: 2146 Oakman Blvd., 3406 Ewald Circle at Fullerton St. Volunteers: 50 Time: 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Mariners Inn Contact Person: Kyle Hocker (313) 215-6961 Location: Cass Park (located between Temple, Ledyard, 2nd & 3rd streets) Time: 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Volunteers: 200 Mc Graw Resource Center 6900 Wagner (Vacant Lot) Contact: Raquel de Whitt (248) 842-0302 Volunteers: 30 - 50 Time: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Patton Recreation Center Contact: Ninfa Cancel, Recreation Community Affairs Manager, (313) 283-8252 Karla Williamson, Patton Center Supervisor, (313) 600-3555 Location: 2301 Woodmere off Vernor Hwy. (Park cleanup, graffiti removal & painting bleachers) Time: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Volunteers: 80-120 This Saturday is the last Motor City Makeover cleanup. There is still time for residents, business owners, houses of worship, block clubs, and schools to: · Call (313) 224-3450 to register to join the cleanup effort or register online at www.MotorCityMakeover.org. · Clean the area around their home, business, house of worship, or school on the Saturday designated for their sector. · Organize their neighborhoods or their...

City of Detroit is insolvent

Community 05-17-2013 Hits:126

by Chris Isidore The Detroit city government is weeks away from running out of the cash it needs to operate, according to an initial report from the emergency manager overseeing its finances. The report from Kevyn Orr, the bankruptcy attorney appointed by the state in March, lays out a bleak financial position for the city. "The city has effectively exhausted its ability to borrow," he writes in the report, adding that the city "is clearly insolvent." To avoid running out of cash before the end of its fiscal year on June 30, it must "defer payments on its current obligations," including more than $100 million in pension payments that are due. "No one should underestimate the severity of the financial crisis," Orr said in a statement. "The path Detroit has followed for more than 40 years is unsustainable and only a complete restructuring of the city's finances and operations will allow Detroit to regain its footing." He said this report was a baseline from which to develop that restructuring plan. It does not use the term "bankruptcy," but Orr hasn't ruled that out. Detroit is struggling under at least $15 billion in debt, due to years of borrowing to pay its bills as tax revenues plummeted. The population of the city has fallen by nearly 30 percent since 2012, and there are currently over 100,000 vacant lots and buildings. Together, this has meant a drastic drop in revenue from both income and property taxes. Detroit is struggling to come up with annual debt payments of about $246 million, which eat up almost 20 percent of the its general fund budget. Orr says the city needs relief from the money it owes, suggesting that investors holding its debt could end up taking haircuts. But investors won't be the only ones hit by Orr's efforts to restructure the city's finances. He...

New Wall Street threat to homeownership

Community 05-17-2013 Hits:257 Stella J. Adams, NNPA

by Stella J. Adams (NNPA)—Private-equity firms, hedge funds and other Wall Street investors are seeking to develop a Real Estate Owned (REO)– to- Rent Securitization Market with the blessing of the FED and FHFA. A year ago, the Federal Reserve Board issued a policy statement on rental of REO owned by the banks they supervise and allowed the banks to rent REO properties without requiring them to demonstrate continuous efforts to market the properties. Last fall, FHFA initiated a "pilot" REO bulk sale program in urban markets across the nation. This munificence by the federal regulators will change the course of America's future and signals the abandonment of homeownership as a pathway to prosperity. Single-family rental properties have attracted more than $10 billion from equity firms, hedge funds, REITs and institutional investors. According to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., this market may attract a total of $2.8 trillion in capital investments in the not so distant future. The government's encouragement of this new housing market is fraught with potential societal and economic risks to the long-term health of our neighborhoods and our nation. As a fair housing professional, I am concerned that this allows the Wall Street predators to once again prey upon urban and inner-ring suburban communities across the country. These new investors in the rental housing market may not be aware that they are covered under Section 805 of the Federal Fair Housing Act and its implementing regulations. As a homeowner, I am concerned that there may be homes on my block or in my community that are owned by Wall Street firms that have shown no accountability for maintaining the properties they have acquired. A judge recently denied Deutsche Bank AG's bid to dismiss a lawsuit by the city of Los Angeles, accusing it of letting hundreds of foreclosed properties fall into...