Posted on December 25, 2012

Ford Motor Company Invests $10 Million in Detroit Neighborhoods

The Ford Motor Company and Ford Motor Company Fund have announced the launch of a $10 million program to strengthen Detroit neighborhoods and support education, summer jobs programs, and other community needs.

Operation Brighter Future – Detroit, as the program is called, will provide support for the new Ford Resource and Engagement Center in the Mexicantown Mercado building in southwest Detroit, the expansion of youth programming at the Patton Recreation Center, and funding for other neighborhood projects. In addition, the company will donate two F-Series chassis for ambulances to the Detroit Public Safety Foundation, provide support to Greening of Detroit and its efforts to turn abandoned sites into parks, and the Detroit Summer Youth Employment program, which provides training and work experience for youth between the ages of 14 and 21.

"The Mexicantown Community Development Corporation board of directors is proud to partner with Ford Motor Company Fund and the city of Detroit to provide comprehensive programming at the Mexicantown Mercado that aligns with its original purpose as a community resource," said Hector Hernandez, chair emeritus of the MCDC board. "Ford, the city, and MCDC are all committed to providing the highest-quality services to the southwest Detroit community within the Mercado, and we envision exciting cultural programming on the soon-to-be enhanced plaza space, complete with a new water fountain feature to extend this extraordinary exterior community plaza."