Passing through Detroit’s Historic North End community, along its many major thoroughfares – Woodward Avenue, East Grand Boulevard, John R, Brush Street, Oakland Avenue, and others –offers a grand glimpse at the positive transformations that have happened or are in the process of transpiring on many fronts. From new or renovated residential, commercial, and mixed-used developments to repurposed vacant lots for urban farming or creative works of arts, the imagination and cooperation of North End residents, businesses, developers, and other stakeholders (public and private) are in constant forward thinking mode to advance the community across broad spectrums.
Even on lesser traveled residential streets in the North End, waves of progress is afoot, even if there are constant reminders that there’s more – much more – work to be done in transforming this storied community to experience better times. Nonetheless, Detroit’s North End is a vivid declaration of actionable partnerships of how strategic public and private entities should and must work in concert with others to transform underserved communities into viable areas, offering residents places and spaces to live, grow, and prosper.
Among the many organizations – public or private – that are putting its major fingerprints on the North End is The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Over the past few decades, the Knight Foundation has contributed millions and millions of dollars to support projects and initiatives to empower the people of the North End, an overwhelming Black populated community.
Programs funded by the Foundation have included, but are not limited to, endeavors facilitated by Vanguard CDC, an organization that has worked on behalf of the North End and adjacent Milwaukee Junction for almost 31 years. One of the major partnership projects involving Vanguard, along with the Knight Foundation’s support, was creating a pedestrian-friendly, creatively attractive streetscape stretching along East Grand Blvd., between Woodward Ave. to the I-75 service drive.
“East Grand Boulevard is a historic promenade, and the major Gateway into the North End,” said Pamela Martin Turner, Vanguard CDC president and CEO. “This project has helped us transform East Grand Blvd. into a beautiful, walkable street that can be enjoyed by the entire community.”
Other Knight-funded projects, involving cooperative partnerships with other North End-based organizations include The Next Detroit Neighborhood, a program that helped Detroit implement land-use plans for more than 4,400 properties in the North End. The program, according to Knight sources, will help the city develop strategies to use vacant land for affordable, mix-used housing development, community gardening, and greening projects.
The Knight Foundation also supported The North End Resilience Project and the North End Resilience Project Cohort Development and Coaching, both facilitated by Michigan Community Resources. The project’s mission was to support eight grassroots organizations and community leaders in the North End, including Hip N Zen Northend, Historic North End Alliance, Inc., House 4 House, Joy Project growers, Moore Community Council, Netteworks Artistry Entertainment, Oakland Avenue Artists Coalition, and Russel Street Community Development Corporation.
“We believe that you can’t invest in a place without investing in the people who live there,” a Knight spokesperson said in a statement. “These projects are helping the North End community shape its own future, build resiliency and feel more connected to the area, and we’re proud to help support them.”
In order for any major project to succeed at any level in the North End or any other community, solid plans and strategies are critical to the outcomes. To that end, The North End Neighborhood Framework Vision, a 179-page plan, was published by the City of Detroit’s Planning and Development Department (PDD).
The North End Neighborhood Framework Vision is a comprehensive guide to support equitable and inclusive growth and stability of the North End neighborhood. It was created through a participatory planning process involving residents and community members of the neighborhood over a period of 16 months (July 2022 to December 2023).
In an exclusive interview with the Michigan Chronicle on April 2, 2025, Kevin Schronce spoke glowingly about The North End Neighborhood Framework and the level of communication and cooperation that continues to manifest itself.
“Since January 2024 to the present, we’ve done things to advance the recommendations in the North End Framework Plan, much of which has been centered on ongoing community awareness,” Kevin Schronce, Associate Director, and Central Region Design Director for the City of Detroit Department of Planning and Development (PDD), told the Michigan Chronicle in an April 2, 2025 interview. “We have provided updates on how we are going about trying to implement components of the North End Framework Plan, but also, through this process we really are working to establish relationships trying to help folks in the North End access and resource the right people at the city on various matters, some of which are not even related to the Framework. For us, it’s really about working to establishing and maintaining relationships with residents in the North End.”
PDD is not ultimately responsible for fully implementing the Framework. Instead, it is a source, a tool used by other City departments, governing bodies, agencies, and organizations for implementation and identifying where and what types of investments are needed to empower residents in the North End in multiple ways.
“The Planning Department, in this process, is like the quarterback that works to advocate on behalf of the North End through other city departments to get some of these things done,” Schronce said. “A lot of the planning processes are community driven. The community is and always will be at the forefront of our processes.”
Shirley Davis, president of the North End Neighbors Black Club, believed the North End’s greatest resources is its people, who love the community and have vowed to make it a better place now and the future.
“The North End is a great place to live,” Davis told the Michigan Chronicle recently. “There are really strong block clubs and other strong community groups dedicated to making this community better and better.”
Davis, who has lived in the North End for more than three decades admits that it has taken dedicated work and partnering with other community residents and stakeholders in the name of cooperation and empowerment.
“Forming and maintaining strong and active block clubs, along with other community groups mean a lot to making the North End special,” Davis said. “Maintaining partnerships to reach common outcomes for the North End have always been important to me.”
Like many communities across Detroit, developing affordable housing is paramount to the community growing. In the North End, there are numerous developers who are doing outstanding work in collaborative manners to generate the development of affordable housing for adults and families.
Sonya Mays, president & CEO of Develop Detroit, is making a real difference in the North End and other communities in the city.
Her company’s portfolio of North End development projects include Marwood + Marston, a multifamily rental building located at 53 Martson St. and 12 newly-constructed apartments at 111 Marston. Develop Detroit has been a leader in building Revolution Homes, single-family “infilled homes” built in vacant parcels between existing homes. Mays’ company also developed and co-sponsored, as part of a dynamic development team, the Detroit People’s Food Co-op, a trailblazing “community-owned” grocery store located on Woodward Ave. and Euclid St. in the North End.
There are other Black Developers working to improve the affordable landscape in the North End, including Charles Dickerson III, who has built 29 brand new apartments called “The Beauton,” which is described as a mixed-use affordable housing project.
“I am truly grateful for the support that was made available by all of our partners on this project,” said Dickerson, whose company CADS III Management developed The Beauton. “Making sure these apartments were affordable is important to us. Making sure The Beauton is attainable for all Detroiters was a critical part of the mission for this project.”
“The North End is at the dawn of a new, important era,” said Jerry Ann Hebron, who operates the Oakland Avenue Urban Farm under the umbrella of North End Christian Community Development Corporate (501 c 3), whose mission is to grow healthy food, host educational programs, create cultural gathering spaces, operate a Farmers Market, and generate jobs for community residents. “As we build a place that more North End residents are involved with and proud of, and as more community needs are served, we know the North End will thrive.”
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