I first heard of the Georgia Street Community Collective from the blog Sweet Juniper. I grew up within the AM-Radio shadow of Detroit, lived where we could see the smoke plums from the General Motors Central Foundry in our town, and became a fervent Detroit Tigers fan before I started kindergarten. And I feel real pangs when I travel home to visit family in Northwest Ohio and see what’s happened to the region.

But there are bright spots, and the Georgia Street Community Collective gives me a lot of hope.

Here’s their mission:

The mission of the Georgia Street Community Collective is to provide the residents of our community with:

Health
by maintaining the Georgia Street Community Garden and Market

Education
by establishing and maintaining the Georgia Street Community Center/Library

Leadership Skills
by providing positive role models

Protection
by having the Community Center/Library to give the youth a place to meet, and to

Rebuild and Sustain
Our Community: One House, One Block, One Neighborhood at a Time.

Their gardens were started by Mark Covington on empty lots that he cleared and began cultivating. Covington’s vision continued to expand and now includes a vibrant community organization that includes everything from gardens and local food activism to neighborhood reading nights.

Reading and movie night at Georgia Street Community Collective.

You can see more of what’s happening on Georgia Street by following their weblog. You might enjoy Lamra’s strawberry commercial, where the superiority of fruit from GSCC over store-bought is clearly demonstrated. And folks, let’s click through on that “Donate” button there. This is a group that’s clearly doing work that makes a real difference.

There’s a good article about Georgia Street Community Collective from the Detroit News: Urban gardeners nurture nature in Detroit.

Links: Georgia Street Community Collective and the GSCC Blog