How one Detroit community plans to change its neighborhood with ShotStoppers funding
(CBS DETROIT) - The city of Detroit's ShotStoppers program gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to several organizations in the city with the goal of reducing crime in their neighborhood.
We caught up with one of the groups that is benefiting from the funds to talk about their plans for their community.
Our Ray Strickland went to Detroit's east side and spent the day with the president of the Mohican Regent Association, who spoke about the work they're doing to help make their community better.
"When I first moved into this neighborhood, neighbors were working with one another, neighbors communicated with one another," said George Preston.
It's like taking a trip down memory lane for George Preston.
As we drove around the Mohican Regent Neighborhood, Preston was reminded of how much his community has changed.
"We lost that community spirit," he said.
Mohican Regent is home to one of the deadliest areas by zip code in Detroit: 48205. Preston describes the area as one filled with hard-working families who simply want to see their community thrive.
But he admits crime, specifically gang activity, can take a toll on any community's spirit.
"Older people began to move out of the neighborhood because of some crimes in the neighborhood. The perception of crimes in the neighborhood," Preston said.
Resilient is another way Preston would describe the Mohican Regent.
He and members of the community are determined to be a part of the change they want to see. His neighborhood group has taken money out of their own pockets to uplift the community in many ways.
And now, because of Detroit's ShotStoppers program, they can give back even more.
"It's going to be adult education here. We are going to do tutoring, the DIY types of things, we are going to have an expert in various fields carpentry, plumbing, and we are going to teach the community," he said.
Preston's neighborhood organization is helping renovate homes in the community, turning them into places of opportunity, and providing education on skilled trades and resources for senior citizens, the youth, and people returning home from prison.
"Skills the community can use in terms of doing for themselves, opposed to calling for help," Preston.
The city has community-based organization funds as part of ShotStoppers to help reduce crime in neighborhoods across the city.
Preston's neighborhood organization is benefitting from those funds.
And along with the home renovations, the money will also help them bolster their community patrol.
"It helps people feel comfortable when they see the community patrol," he said.
Preston and other members of the community volunteer to be the extra set of eyes for police, reporting crimes and other violations.
"The criminal element in the neighborhood. They're going to feel uncomfortable because not only are the police watching, but we're watching," he said.
Preston has high hopes and big plans for his community.
He says it's a community worth fighting for, and he won't stop working to make it better.
"All of us working together is going to bring about that change and I'm excited because I can see a lot of those changed beginning to happen," he said
