DETROIT – Since the city’s bankruptcy, foundations have been at the forefront of Detroit’s recovery, and the Gilbert Family Foundation has worked particularly hard to help rebuild the city in a unique way with a graduation ceremony at the Detroit Conservation Corps.
On Thursday (March 28), the Gilbert Foundation announced that it would invest nearly $2 million in the non-profit Greening of Detroit.
It combines planting trees with workforce development, helping Detroiters get employment training and job opportunities, especially for those who have a tough time getting a job because of their past.
Greening of Detroit depends largely on volunteers who’ve planted about 150,000 or so trees in parks and Detroiter’s yards.
They’ve worked to reduce emissions and summer heat with a growing tree canopy for over a decade. On top of that, the organization also offers a six-week conservation training program.
“The opportunity that was given by Greening of Detroit was life-changing,” said Demetrius Brooks.
Brooks, who as a father of a young daughter, had just left federal prison.
“I speak before you as a man who was the product of recent incarceration,” Brooks said. “Detroit is my hometown, and I love and appreciate the fact I was given this opportunity to revitalize and bring the city back because Detroit is back, y’all.”
Brooks and nearly two dozen others graduated from the six-week intensive training program, made stronger by a $1.8 million Gilbert Family Foundation donation.
Vice President Darnell Adams spelled out to graduates how learning to plant and maintain healthy trees comes together for the greater good by re-stating some of the Gilbert organization’s so-called isms.
“Numbers and money follow; they don’t lead,” said Adams. “It’s not about who is right but what is right, and right now, the thing is to focus our energy on people, spaces, and opportunities for every Detroiter to thrive in the future.”
With that training, the graduates can work in the tree and nursery business with the skills needed to grow a real career and a credential from a trusted organization.