Volunteers boarding up vacant homes in Detroit

DETROIT – A group of volunteers went door to door Saturday, blocking those doors at vacant homes on Detroit's east side.

The group was boarding up doors and windows, hoping to prevent squatters, crime and other activity inside.

"It's hard work, that's all I can say!" shouted Vachal Moore as he helped board up one of the homes.

Moore, a Wayne State University student, leads the group. He had the idea recently, after realizing that of the neighborhoods in Detroit with abandoned homes, not all of them have community members to take care of them.

"We often times do things in areas where there's a lot of young people," Moore said. "This area is basically just senior citizens, so I wanted to help out."

He said networking through Americorps and the Wayne State Urban Safety Project helped him create a group of about a dozen volunteers. On Saturday they cleaned up and boarded a home on Concord and an abandoned convenience store a few blocks away.

Moore says they attract trouble and neighborhood kids have to walk past them to get to school. 

"We need the help," said Deborah Myles, a neighbor who grabbed a rake to help. "And all these volunteers, it makes me feel good, to know there are people that care to come help us."

Another resident, 84-year-old Mary Gatson, said her street used to be one of the nicest in Detroit.

"When I moved here, all the houses were nice, (it had) a beautiful playground, everything was nice," she said.

Detroit police officers were there to check the buildings before they were boarded up, and all the boards used were painted by neighborhood kids the day before.

"We did a kids paint party and we had the kids from the community and family members come out to help us paint the murals," Moore said.

"This is what we all should do. We all should care," added Myles. "Not just this street; every community. They keep saying Detroit is coming back, but every community needs to put their hands in and make it come back."

Moore is hoping to do more projects throughout Detroit, but he needs more volunteers.

If you're willing to help, e-mail him at vachalmoore@gmail.com


About the Author:

Nick joined the Local 4 team in February of 2015. Prior to that he spent 6 years in Sacramento covering a long list of big stories including wildfires and earthquakes. Raised in Sterling Heights, he is no stranger to the deep history and pride Detroit has to offer.