This week has been, in a word, incredibly tiring. I’ve had several late nights in a row for different events and work, making for a hectic sleep schedule. However, this has made me incredibly thankful for the days when I’m not too busy, and can slow down to be present and enjoy myself. It’s also a great reminder before school picks back up…sometimes your life is just hectic, and the only way past it is through it.
Work this past week has been exciting. My team is working on a lot of things that I think will be really cool when they come to fruition. Shay came up with a really cool initiative to implement in the HOPE village called #HOPErocks. It’s a community wayfinding campaign, where boulders are placed around the neighborhood at different important landmarks or significant spots chosen by the residents, and then they will be painted by them, and we will spraypaint #HOPErocks onto the boulders. Not only is this a great way for the community to come together by recognizing the corner”stones” of the neighborhood (lol), but it empowers them to guide outsiders through a space in a way they’ve chosen- while engaging on social media with the hashtag. We’re in the process of buying rocks, which is so much hard than you would ever expect. They’re literally rocks, but they are so expensive and so heavy. Hopefully we figure out the logistics soon!
The other project we’re working on is the Farmers Market. I finished designs for the banners and yard signs advertising the market a while ago, and made changes as requested. There’s some internal tension within focus HOPE about the name of the market as its now called the HOPE village farmers market. Focus HOPE wants to rename is the Focus HOPE farmers market in HOPE village. It’s frustrating that we have to deal with the bureaucracy of such a large nonprofit, but I suppose its a good lesson in what nonprofit work can look like in the day to day.
Overall, I’m so grateful for the opportunity to stay in and experience Detroit in the day to day. It has been such a journey thus far, and even when I’m drop dead tired, I know at the end of every day that I’m lucky to be where I am.
Hey Bash,
Keep rocking and rolling my fellow co-worker! You got this, your designs are the bomb diggity, the red was amazing, the title was okay (lol jk it was the next thing that’s after okay and not quite great) (lol again), and you just keep being breezy. But real talk, I’m glad you are my partner for this project, you’ve become a good friend and I plan on hanging out after this program without a doubt. Stay breezy, and just admit that grape leaves are disgusting 🙂