Ford Funds Ford Resource and Engagement Community Center (Building a Better World: Doing Great Work, Involving Employees and Working these Partnerships)

Ford revives dormant Mexicantown center

TOM WALSH LOOKS AT THE SERVICES THAT WILL BE PROVIDED

   Today, more than five years after construction of the Mexicantown Mercado in southwest Detroit, the building at 2826 Bagley is finally springing back to life as the Ford Resource and Engagement Center.

   Thanks to a $10-million commitment by the Ford Motor Co. Fund, the center will provide an array of programs and services ranging from job training and language classes to dance lessons and a Gleaners food bank hub. Mayor Dave Bing, Ford Fund President Jim Vella and partners from nonprofit agencies will be on hand for a 4 p.m. event to mark the opening today.

   Originally built in 2007 as city-backed welcome center and business incubator, the Mercado complex foundered as local businesses suffered amid delays and legal feuding over the Ambassador Bridge Gateway Project, and has been dormant since 2008.

   Reviving it as a multi-use community activities center with ongoing operating money from Ford is an unusual move for the automaker’s philanthropic arm and could also serve as a model for other corporate initiatives in Detroit and other financially strapped cities.

   “We wanted to do something that was different, that wasn’t a cookie-cutter approach. We we wanted something to have impact quickly. The community needed help as fast as possible, not studies and a proposal that would take years to put into effect,” Vella said.

   “This is exactly what Bill Ford wants us to do when we talk about going out and building a better world,” Vella added, referring to Ford’s executive chairman. “He’s not talking about writing checks or sponsorship of events that make us feel good. It’s really about doing great work, getting our employees involved, working these partnerships.”

   Gleaners is the anchor tenant, providing service and overseeing the facility at inception. A Ford Fund review team will dispense operating funds and approve new programs. Initial programs and partners include:

   • Bilingual services from LA SED.

   • Job assistance from SER Metro-Detroit Jobs for Progress.

   • Income tax preparation from Accounting Aid.

   • Anti-bullying training from Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan.

   • Dance and arts classes from Living Arts.

   • Performing arts training from Mosaic Youth Theater.

   • College classes offered by University of Michigan and University of Detroit-Mercy.

   Corporate giving is not a new thing, of course — the Ford Fund alone has given $60 million over the past five years to support nonprofits in southeast Michigan.

   But the $10 million for this project was an additional outlay targeted to Detroit in a time of acute need. It’s an innovative approach not unlike the 22 mobile food pantries that Ford and Gleaners equipped during the depths of the recent economic downturn, when they realized the need for food had expanded rapidly into suburbs and exurbs far beyond the traditional pockets of poverty in the region.

The Ford Resource and Engagement Center in Mexicantown in southwest Detroit. MADALYN RUGGIERO/SPECIAL TO THE FREE PRESS