My Placement: The MSU Extension

I didn’t really begin the program with any specific expectations on what my daily work life would be like, but I feel placed in the best placement for me.

The MSU Extension is MSU’s way of “making an impact” in Detroit. My boss is Naim Edwards, who I consider more of a mentor, and who I noticed is the guy in the center of our DCBRP website photo. He works on his own to develop an urban agriculture site on the west side of Detroit through the MSU Extension that is partnered with DPFLI, the Detroit Partnership for Learning and Innovation (I think). With delays the site has not been as developed as hoped before I began working, but nothing too bad. We do a lot of working with other urban agriculture spots.

Naim is very well known as from what I can see, for we run into someone anytime we go almost anywhere in Detroit. My goal this summer while working for Naim is to be able to identify the techniques that work well for getting the local community to know the site, its location, and purpose. For example, we went door to door telling the community about our volunteer day, yet no one from the neighborhood showed up to the volunteer day. However, many people have been concerned when they see us dumping piles of woodchips, or will recognize the work being done as they walk by. As we continue to develop the site, we’ll have more outreach and days for the community to visit the site (hopefully).

I grew up in various neighborhoods in the Detroit area and my mother lives in Midtown, so it feels nice to be close to something familiar after spending an entire school year in Ann Arbor. I’m becoming more familiar with the streets and noticing a lot of differences compared to when I was a child. Having lived in other areas in Detroit outside of the 7.2 (as it is referred to in How To Kill A City), it’s a completely different feel when walking on the street to/from work. I don’t remember choosing to stop at a Starbuck’s in Detroit before now.