You’ve seen Mark Covington before, perhaps in the DL! film “The Farmer and the Philosopher” (watch). He’s a big, burly fella with hands and calves the size of an oak sapling, a heart of gold and a laugh that can shake the room. He runs the show at Georgia Street Community Collective, an organization committed to re-building his neighborhood– one house and block at a time. The organization provides health services through education on the merits of fresh food and produce from the garden that serves as the epicenter of their efforts at Vinton and Georgia Street. They teach kids in the area leadership skills and provide workshops and fun things to do all the time. Mark, through his own efforts, is giving people in that neighborhood someone to look up to, an example to follow. They are even building a community center that will house a media lab and place where kids can congregate for all kinds of activities. No doubt, they are making tracks.

GSCC is currently looking for a qualified grant writer to prepare grants and provide assistance finding new opportunities that would help push their programs forward. The organization has not pursued grants aggressively in the past, so there is some serious opportunity to make a difference here.

Qualified applicants can mail a simple statement of purpose along with a list of organizations and successful grants written. Please also attach a resume and mail to talk@detroitlives.org.

Let this be the friendly reminder about Georgia Street Community Collective’s 3rd Annual Super Bowl Party fundraiser. That’s right. Tonight is the night, and a $12 ticket gets you all kinds of food and beer, plus the peace of mind knowing that you are helping a neighborhood collective financially to do things like provide programming for kids in the neighborhood and continue to renovate their community center that is still a work in progress. For more info on GSCC and their work in the neighborhood, check out the DL! film “The Farmer and the Philosopher.”

Doors are at 5pm, admission at the door is $15 or just email Mark and get a $12 advance ticket. Or, check out the Facebook event page.

9352 Georgia Street
Detroit, Michigan
(313) 452-0684

So now that we know the Steelers are playing the Packers for the Super Bowl, it’s time to make plans for the right kind of party, and Mark Covington saves the day. Normally, you go to a Super Bowl party and just eat a lot and watch the commercials. With Mark’s party at the Georgia Street Community Collective’s new community center, you can eat a lot, watch commercials, drink beer AND benefit a pretty awesome neighborhood organization. That’s right. Tickets are $12 in advance and can be purchased by emailing your RSVP to georgiast313@yahoo.com.

The Georgia Street Community Collective started a couple years ago with the intention of rebuilding and sustaining the neighborhood by providing residents health, education, leadership skills and protection. All proceeds from the Super Bowl party benefit the collective which will assist with a lot of things– finishing construction on the community center, events and classes for the kids in the neighborhood and with supplying things like clothing and school supplies throughout the year. For more information, check out their website.

Paul Harris with the UK’s The Guardian came to Detroit not too long ago to produce an article on the way that urban agriculture is revitalizing and changing Detroit for the better. It was his second visit to the city and an attempt at presenting a wider view of the kind of strides farming is taking in the city. In the article he covers many folks in Detroit– Mark Covington and his Georgia Street Garden (the same guy featured in DL!’s documentary “The Farmer and the Philosopher”), beekeeper Rich Wieske with Green Toe Gardens, Taja Sevelle’s Linwood Street Urban Farm, Patrick Crouch and Earthworks Urban Farm and Mike Score with Hantz Farm. Quite a talent bill, eh? Harris weaves a fabric of hope in the article with equal parts devoted to each character. Covington tells the tale of gardens saving neighborhoods, Wieske talks about how perfect Detroit is for all sorts of agricultural endeavors, Savelle addresses the progress of the urban farming movement, Crouch discusses income potential from gardening for poor residents and Score looks at large scale commercial farming as a viable industry in Detroit. All pieces fit together nicely to display the potential of farming in this city from a variety of different angles. All of which point once again to the fact that as Detroit pushes forward re-defining itself with its signature pioneering spirit, there is a good chance other struggling cities will listen and take note. Evidence, once again, that we gotta keep pushing. Onwards.

Put this one on the docket: Georgia Street Community Collective is having a Super Bowl Party. Correct. February 7, 2010. 5pm. Tickets are $12 in advance and can be obtained by emailing georgiast313@yahoo.com or calling 313-452-0684. The gathering will be in the soon-to-be corner store at the corner of Georgia Street and Vinton (Map). The collective will use the party as a tool to, 1) promote the progress of construction on the community center and corner store– all of which are underway as we speak, 2) use funds raised from ticket sales to support to the forward progress of the collective as a positive force in the neighborhood, and 3)to have fun watching some football. Beer and all kinds of food are provided in the admission price, so it’s really a no-brainer. Support a good cause and get ready for some fooooozball.

The Georgia Street Community Collective is putting on a Holiday Dinner December 14 for the neighborhood and needs some volunteers and/or food for the ol’ celebration. Interested in helping? Drop us a line and we will get you all taken care of. The collective is run by Mark Covington and through a variety of ways is revitalizing an East-side neighborhood with a pretty cool community garden, lots of activities (movie nights, reading nights) for the kids and a the development and construction of a community center. Read their blog and stay up to date with photos that chronicle happenings in the Georgia Street world.

Correction: The Holiday Dinner is December 12, not December 14.

Mark Covington’s Georgia Street Commmunity Collective, a non-profit on the East Side with a community garden and neighborhood revitalization program, has just secured funds to rehab two existing structures in the neighborhood to be used for a corner store and community center. This is big news as the collective has been trying to raise the money to do the renovations for quite some time now. The corner store will serve the local community as a source for fresh food utilizing vegetables from the garden while the community center will be used as meeting space, areas to serve kids in the neighborhood and offices on the upper floor. Head on over to Georgia Street to see things changing. Stay tuned to things at the garden on their website and keep in mind upcoming events on November 21 (Second Annual Craft Day) and December 12 (Second Annual Harvest Dinner).

Mark is also featured in the upcomnig DL! film release, “The Farmer and the Philosopher.” More details are formulating. Stay tuned for screening information.

The Georgia Street Community Collective, our do-good-in-Detroit community gardening partner on the East side is going to be filmed on July 23 for the PBS television program This Old House. At this point, there’s no telling when the segment will air, but it’s an exciting development for Mark (the collective’s founder) and the garden. They held a cleanup effort on July 18 but head over to the garden to see if they need any more help to prep for the big day. They would like some people to be present for the filming, so stop by on the 23rd if you feel so inclined. Get more details and learn more about the garden here.