Fiat Chrysler Automobiles invests almost $700,000 to improve Detroit neighborhoods

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles recently announced plans to invest nearly $700,000 in a plan aimed at improving the quality of life in neighborhoods spread across Detroit’s east side.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles recently announced plans to invest nearly $700,000 in a plan aimed at improving the quality of life in neighborhoods spread across Detroit’s east side. | Pixabay

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) recently announced plans to invest nearly $700,000 in a plan aimed at improving the quality of life in neighborhoods spread across Detroit’s east side.

"FCA's commitment to Detroit goes beyond our facilities," FCA External Affairs Lead for Wayne County Ron Stallworth told PR Newswire. "Our collective futures will be defined by how we collaborate to transform our neighborhoods and we are just getting started."

As part of the plan, the Impact Neighborhood Fund will be receiving a $400,000 contribution for improvement projects in the Chandler Park, West End and Riverbend neighborhoods. At the same time, the Chandler Park Conservancy will be receiving a $285,000 contribution aimed at bolstering the nonprofit’s plan to begin construction on the city’s first community-based environmental education plaza. With Invest Detroit set to serve as the fiduciary, the Impact Neighborhood Fund is set to receive a second $400,000 contribution later in 2021.

"We all understand that a community that doesn't invest in itself is a community in trouble," said Jay Henderson, president of the Riverbend Association and president of the Detroit Police Department's Fifth Precinct Community Relations District Council, a community group comprised of neighborhood associations and block clubs in the Fifth Precinct. "This kind of financial investment from FCA will help jump start needed projects. After years of economic neglect, this is the shot in the arm that we need."

As part of the grand plan to ensure that city residents stay safe from the spread of COVID-19, FCA also donated 20,000 face masks to the community leaders.

Finally, FCA's total $2.5 billion investment in the city’s east side is touted as the largest investment in history, including such targeted investments as $4 million in Manufacturing Career Academy to build an education-career pathway for students and residents, $5.8 million in state funding to workforce development and training, $1.8 million for the home repair grant program and $1.4 million for various environmental projects across the area.