The 1,300 refugees coming to Michigan are more Afghan refugees than the state has resettled in the past 10 years. Assimilating to a new life is not easy, but Samaritas and its partners have plans in place to help refugees build a new life in the Metro Detroit community.
“That’s what Dearborn is all about, making art equitable for everyone. Maybe you don’t have a car or the money and can’t make it to an art gallery or museum. Public art provides access,” says Sasha Corder, gallery coordinator for the Padzieski Gallery.
“I’ve been a patron of the original Dearborn location for about ten years,” says Connor Osborn, executive director of the Greater Farmington Area Chamber of Commerce. “When I found out about the new Farmington location, I was thrilled — but also a little scared because now I’ll be spending every lunch break there.”
When COVID-19 hit, Mark Robey lost his job in an industry he had worked in for 40 years. With an initiative to support frontline workers through community college, however, he is one of 120,000 Michiganders heading back to school.
“I feel like now, as I go through college, I'm appreciating the POP project more and more for what it prepared me for,” says POP Design Team alum Amar Haidar.
This weekly event at a Wayne County parkway puts non-motorized travelers in the driver's seat.
“It’s amazing what a group of people, if they come together because they have a common goal, can do,” Rasha Demashkieh says. “Our purpose, our job, is to connect those donors.”
“I think it's important to support the people that are your neighbors and your friends and live in the same area as you. Then that money stays in the local economy, it stays in the city, and it supports a lot more than just us,” says Lizzie DiMaria, co-founder of The Dearborn Shop.
Dearborn Music will be opening its new location in the old Dressbarn store in Farmington this summer. While it’s too early to say exactly when, co-owner Rick LeAnnais estimates a July opening.
“In Yemen, coffee was discovered there. It’s important to me that we want to revive that culture and history of the original Arabica coffee,” says Hamzah Nasser. “We want to support the farmers back in Yemen and back in Haraz, where they have the best coffee.”
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