Motor City Blight Busters

Motor City Blight Busters
This is the Motor City Blight Busters' logo.
Founded 1988
Founders John George
Focus Revitalization
Location
  • Detroit Michigan
Area served
Detroit
Method demolish and rebuild
Website Motor City Blight Busters

Motor City Blight Busters is a charitable organization located in Detroit, Michigan. Dedicated to the revitalization of the Detroit community, the group is responsible for cleaning up dump sites, tearing down blighted houses, painting existing homes and many other activities. Over the course of 23 years, the organization has used over 21,000 gallons of paint, 15,500 pounds of nails and 15,470 sheets of plywood.

Mission

Motor City Blight Busters mission is to stabilize, revitalize and repopulate the city of Detroit with homeowners.[1]

History

Established since 1988, the organization is committed to ridding the blight from the Motor City. Blight Busters started with Angels' Night patrol where citizens patrolled the night before Halloween to protect neighborhoods from arson and vandalism. John J. George is the founder and leader of the Motor City Blight Busters. Besides Angel’s Night, John George’s first action in forming Blight Busters was buying plywood and boarding up a house that was being used as an operations base by drug dealers around the corner from his house. After it was boarded up, he found that this worked because the drug dealers did not return to that location.[2] When they first started, John George only had a Lincoln Town Car, but now has made a smart investment, and bought a full-size pickup truck. Blight Busters did not just appear; plenty of work was spent in creating this organization. It started off in John George’s basement with a couple of volunteers. Once it grew too big for his basement, they purchased a building on Lahser Road for one dollar. They put 1.4 million dollars into turning the place around, and making it the headquarters for the Blight Busters.[3]

Notable staff

The Founder, John George is a person who is not afraid to get his hands dirty. Working with the crews and volunteers, he demolishes and renovates buildings. The activist was a former insurance salesman. He has a great sense of humor, but is serious about turning Detroit around.[2] He transformed the three-story former Masonic temple on Lahser near Grand River between McNichols and Seven Mile roads into Blight Busters headquarters.[3]

Funding

Blight Busters is a registered 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization.[4] It is funded by volunteers that donate their time, real estate, tools and money. Vehicles can be donated through a company called Living Wheels.

Volunteers

Individuals, small groups, and companies can all get involved. 10,000 volunteers a year show up to help with projects.

Events

Events in the community

Blight Busters sponsors corporate team building events. They continue with the events that started Motor City blight busters: Angel’s Night patrol and Motor City Clean-up (Houses, Commercial Buildings, Gardens). Demolishing 300 abandoned homes, renovating 425 homes, and building more than 300 brand new homes.[5]

Events in Artist Village Detroit

Artist village contains a gallery, showroom, and workshop. Ingredients for the Java house are grown in Artist Village. Events include live jazz performances, chess club, ballroom dancing lessons, art camp and gardening program.[3]

Events at Motor City Java House & Café

The mission of Java House is to bring people together and improve the community. The community discuss art, books and poetry. This is a green initiate with local produce used and the coffee grounds used to help fertilize the gardens. The coffee is purchased from local vendors.[6] The general manager Alicia Marion gives firsthand experience how the Blight Busters helped her start her dream. This type of source is helpful because it shows the beauty of the café and the fresh ingredients are grown in Artist Village.[7]

Awards and honors

John J. George was given an award by President Clinton the “Points of Light Institute”. It is only awarded to people who have done outstanding volunteer work. Oprah honored Motor City Blight Busters founder with 2012 VW Beetle.[8] In 1995, John George received the "Michigainian of the Year" honor from The Detroit News.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Blight Busters - Home Page". People.emich.edu. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
  2. 1 2 Clare Pfeiffer Ramsey (October 25, 2005). "Who Ya Gonna Call?". Modeldmedia.com. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 Guyette, Curt. "News+Views: Blight buster". Metro Times. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Donate Funds Detroit | Charity | Good Cause | Detroit Blight Busters". Blightbusters.org. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Motor City Blight Busters needs a new truck after their old one stops working". Wxyz.com. July 26, 2011. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
  6. ↑ Tom Rivera says: (February 15, 2011). "Motor City Blight Busters Coffee Shop « Michigan Now". Michigannow.org. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
  7. ↑ "In the Community - Motor City Java House by mydetroitcable | Muslim Community". Muxlim. August 23, 2011. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
  8. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20111020010947/http://www.freep.com/article/20111014/NEWS01/110140322/Oprah-honors-Motor-City-Blight-Busters-founder-2012-VW-Beetle. Archived from the original on October 20, 2011. Retrieved November 15, 2011. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ↑ "Volunteer for Blight Busters". People.emich.edu. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
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