As my second week comes to an end, I must say that the Osborn Neighborhood Alliance is dedicated to keeping the community involved and updated on upcoming and future events. So far each day has consisted of me researching potential organizations to partner with, attending meetings, scheduling meetings, clerical tasks, neighborhood tours, community outreach, workshops etc. Although, each day has consisted of a number of tasks, they all share the same objective which is to provide all of the residents with a higher quality of life. My days working at ONA has also been somewhat of a mystery because I never know what I may be exposed to, and what I may learn from situations that could occur at an event or in the office. For example, I never know when a resident may drop in to say hi, or come into the office to ask questions about who they should contact in order to fix up the blighted houses in the area. Another thing I’ve noticed while working at ONA are people’s willingness to share their backgrounds with me. These insightful anecdotes, gives me a glimpse into their lives, and how their experiences growing up in Detroit made them into the person they are today. I am really appreciative of this because it allows me to form my own perception of Detroit based off of their experiences and how I view the city in present time.
I believe “Busy Butterfly,” encompasses my organizations current state because ONA’s main initiative is to stabilize and revitalize the neighborhood. In order to do so, ONA has a number of committees put in place, taking a holistic approach towards building a higher quality of live for the Osborn community. Focusing on improving the physical environment, ONA created an Outdoor learning butterfly garden. Beautifying and taking pride in the natural environment, this garden serves as a way for the community to make the area look more presentable, in addition to learning more about the environment. Moreover, a butterfly perfectly represents the current state of Detroit and my organization because there are stages associated with becoming this beautiful butterfly and both my organization and Detroit have not reached the final stage. However, when the time comes, it will be something amazing.
