GM student interns, volunteers transform Detroit park

(Courtesy of Detroit News)
by Melissa Burden

Leon Jackson, a 2009 retiree from the Finance Dept. of General Motors; Joyce Kornbluh, a GM retiree from the Legal Dept., and Josephine Holmes, 18, from Detroit Central High School spruce up Gordon Park at the corner of Rosa Parks and Clairmont streets. (Charles V. Tines / The Detroit News)

Detroit —Gordon Park at Rosa Parks Boulevard near Clairmount Street is no longer an eyesore, with chest tall grass growing and no way for children to play on the swings or slide.

A group of paid student interns with the GM Student Corps, General Motors Co. retirees and neighbors have spent weeks clearing debris, brush and garbage to transform the park that sits near the site of the 1967 riots.

Today, the park features new wooden benches, a pergola, small stage and flowers decorated in colorfully painted tires. Earlier this month a concert was held in the rejuvenated park, which GM retirees couldn’t even find a few months ago when driving by; they used an aerial map photo to pinpoint its location.

“It means a lot,” said Curtis Vickerson, 52, who lives down the block from the park and has helped the GM Student Corps with the cleanup, calling the crew lifesavers. “When I was a kid, I used to play in this park.”

On Thursday, GM and the University of Detroit Mercy celebrated the community service projects, including Gordon Park, that 108 GM summer interns from Detroit area high schools led.

“It’s just been a life-changing experience for all of us,” said Mike DiGiovanni, a GM retiree, GM Student Corps director and economics professor for Detroit Mercy.

GM North America President Mark Reuss told a crowd gathered at Detroit Mercy that GM Student Corps will return next year, which garnered applause from the students. Reuss told reporters it’s possible the program also could expand to Flint next summer, where a GM retiree is pushing for it.

This year’s projects ranged from the Gordon Park cleanup to painting a safety course and gardening projects for homeowners. DiGiovanni said the students efforts included planting 425 trees, laying 392 yards of mulch, using 223 gallons of paint and filling 29 Dumpsters worth of trash. The students planned, budgeted and carried out the projects.

The students were mentored by 60 GM retirees and 11 Detroit Mercy student interns and also learned life skills and personal finance during the internship.

Next week, the students will present their final reports to Reuss and his staff.

Shabria Hathorn, a recent graduate of Central Collegiate Academy, recalls the first time she saw Gordon Park.

“It looked like a forest, grass everywhere,” said Hathorn, who is 4-foot, 11 inches. “It was taller than me.”

Hathorn, 17, will attend Grand Valley State University this fall to study animal medicine. She said she’s proud to have helped the community have a nice place to play and also learned new skills.

“I really learned how to work with other people, too, and how to actually work as a team,” she said.

GM paid for the projects — though it wouldn’t say how much they cost — and provided Chevrolet Express vans and Silverado pickups for transportation.

The interns also visited the GM design studio at the Warren Tech Center campus, GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant and toured the Detroit Mercy campus to learn about college life and academic programs available, among other stops. University of Detroit Mercy Professor Jason Roche and four Detroit Mercy students have filmed a one-hour documentary about the students’ efforts, a clip of which was shown Thursday.

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From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130815/AUTO0103/308150111#ixzz2cKg4e4iX

Reference Link: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130815/AUTO0103/308150111