HIGHLAND PARK (AP) - A 50-year-old woman is working to turn her blighted block in the Detroit enclave of Highland Park into a self-sustaining eco-village called Avalon Village.
The Detroit News reported that Shamayim Harris' plan includes turning vacant lots into urban gardens, stores operating from shipping containers, and tennis and basketball courts.
"We're trying to do some good things in Highland Park," said Harris, who has purchased 10 properties in the neighborhood and plans to acquire six more.
Gerrajh Surles, the city's former Department of Public Works director and co-owner of Ako Building Corp., is hiring workers to restore abandoned houses into a place for holistic medicine, an after-school program and a home where those who will work in the village can live.
He estimates the total cost of Avalon Village will be $3 million.
"It's not a pipe dream," Surles said. "It's definitely doable."
Harris has raised more than $243,000 through an online fundraising campaign on the website Kickstarter. The lead singer of an indie-folk band, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, donated an additional $100,000.
Harris decided to take action in 2007 after her 2-year-old son, Jakobi Ra, was killed by a hit-and-run driver a few blocks away from where she now lives.
"I said, 'I'm doing it. I'm just going to take a block and redo everything,'" Harris said.
Six months after Jakobi died, Harris bought her house for $3,000 with personal savings and financial help from a friend. Her home currently houses Moon Ministry, a religious nonprofit organization run by Harris that helps neighbors through community events.
Harris continued to become involved in her community by becoming the first female chaplain of the Highland Park Police Department, a volunteer position she still holds.
Harris ended her 17-year career as a registrar with a charter school in 2011 and began planning Avalon Village more seriously. She said the city couldn't be counted on to rehabilitate the neighborhood, and she wasn't going to wait for developers to come to it.
"People need to say 'I ain't got to live like this and I won't live like this,'" she said.
Published: Thu, Jul 28, 2016
