Natalia Nowicka
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Research Mentor(s): Lisa Tucker, Vice President of Economic Development
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Vanguard Community Development Corporation,
Presentation Date: Thursday, April 22, 2021
Session: Session 6 (4pm-4:50pm)
Breakout Room: Room 6
Presenter: 2
Abstract
Vanguard Community Development services the North End of Detroit in three major areas: economic development, housing development, and community engagement and planning. To assist in economic development within the North End community, Vanguard applied for a Main Street Designation. Vanguard successfully received the designation from Michigan Economic Development Corporation in March 2020. This designation provides technical support to businesses within the North End community. Along with the technical support, there is also a strategic transformation plan which will be implemented over the next five years. The outreach to the community regarding this strategic planning process began in January 2021. We began contacting community and municipal stakeholders to seek input to create the vision for the plan. These stakeholders attended meetings hosted by Michigan and National Main Street, in which Vanguard is the host organization for the program. Through constant communication and engagement, we formed relationships with the community members and municipal entities in order to engage their involvement in the planning process.
Authors: Lisa Tucker, Jamey Carpenter , Natalia Nowicka
Research Method: Community Based Research
