Doing much of my ministry and outreach in Detroit, I’ve been concerned about the city’s policies towards many of its small parks in residential neighborhoods. To say the least, they are extremely neglected and neighborhood kids cannot play in them. They are really a menace with a weeds growing to the waist and abandoned old playground equipment turning into a place for drug use and gang violence. I was visiting my friend Rev. Henry Wells III with Great Commission Fellowship Church in Northwest Detroit the other day, as I pulled up I saw the next door local park being mowed and a crew working taking down some obsolete playgroup equipment. Rev. Wells’ shared with me that the church, along with a block club, had adopted the park. They have been working on cleaning it up and keeping in maintained. Now it is a great place for neighborhood kids and families to enjoy.
I know that many companies and church groups come into the city and do clean up projects, but it makes all the difference when there’s a feeling of local ownership. This is a great effort of a church doing the work in partnership with a local neighborhood group. – Richard Dalton
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