Good late-Friday afternoon everyone:

We’re all digesting in ever-bigger portions the bad news about Detroit. And that news is every bit as dire . . . and heart-wrenching . . . and devastating as the media have conveyed. A region filled with people who travel internationally. A city filled with people whose underlying health conditions make them more vulnerable to the ravages of the virus. A set of communities held together by strong social networks rooted in backyard barbeques, barbershop and beauty salon fellowship, extended family gatherings, institutions of faith. All qualities that enable the virus to wend its invidious path of destruction and disruption.

So, let me offer some more positive images – reflections that recognize that although our community has yet to feel the harshest wrath of the crisis, it still clings to an optimism that Detroit shall, once again, arise from the ashes – as the City motto promises.  It is a spirit of hope that is captured in the video “When the Motor Stops.” And in some of the following actions:

• The formerly-homeless women of the Empowerment Plan who sew sleeping bags that can convert to coats and back again are turning their seamstress talents to designing and producing prototypes for medical-approved surgical gowns and masks;

• Both the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation and Wayne County have created funds to supplement federal and state small business aid by offering near-0% loans to buttress the city’s small businesses community;

• The United Way has assembled a COVID19 Community Response Fund to help meet the health needs of city residents. It has raised some $7 million for almost 100 community nonprofits that provide meals, shelter, rent and mortgage assistance, and other critical services. Kresge will make a significant grant to the Fund in the next days.

• The Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan has created four COVID19 Relief Funds: health, arts and culture, small businesses, and nonprofits. Kresge will contribute to the first two and pursue independently ways to ensure that small nonprofit businesses and nonprofits receive the technical assistance they need to access federal and state funds.

• The City has ordered that the 6,000 households currently not receiving city water be reconnected. A complication has been that some of the shut-offs are the result of defective piping into the home. The City has accordingly organized a Plumber’s Brigade charged with fixing that. Kresge will pool dollars from our Environment, Human Services, and Detroit teams to support these and other water restoration activities.

• Carhartt, the rugged work clothing manufacturer, will produce 200,000 medical gowns and 25 million masks over the next months, calling on – among other production centers – its Industrial Sewing and Innovation Center on Cass Avenue.

• The Arsenal of Democracy has become the Arsenal of Health, as the automobile industry and its supply chain in Southeast Michigan are shape-shifting their production heft to meet the health crisis:
  • General Motors will produce up to 100,000 surgical masks per day from its production facility in Warren and is working with a medical supplier to manufacture up to 200,000 respirators;
  • A supplier of seating, RCO Engineering, is making up to 30,000 face-shields a day;
  • A variety of distilleries, including Detroit City Distillery, are producing hand sanitizer;
  • Ford  is using its 3D printing capacity to produce 100,000 face-shields a week and 50,000 ventilators in the next three months;

Just a partial sampling. Acts of kindness and generosity increase by the day.

Rip