A Letter from Anika Goss-Foster, Executive Director of Detroit Future City
My first month on the ground at the Detroit Future City (DFC) Implementation Office as its new Executive Director has been both inspiring and motivating. As a third generation Detroiter and having worked in the community development sector locally and nationally, I have maintained a great deal of respect for the forward-thinking DFC Strategic Framework.
What’s become even more apparent in the last month is the immense expertise and innovation possessed by the team that comprise the DFC Implementation Office. The transformative work they are stewarding to bring the Framework to life is evident.
The impactful actions that are driving this work for the last couple of years have been incubated in the DFC Implementation Office and hatched throughout the city in a variety of ways. The office works to cultivate a coalition of multi-sector stakeholders, from civic to community, that have distinct and different interests using the Framework as a guide.
This process is not a sprint. It’s a marathon. And, the work we are introducing in the next few months illustrates how the DFC Implementation Office, and the Framework we help steward, can provide thoughtful and informed strategic recommendations to help achieve a sustainable Detroit and a better quality of life for Detroiters.
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Field Guide to Working with Lots Mini Grant Winners
This month, we will be announcing the recipients of $65,000 in grants to help Detroiters implement the Field Guide to Working with Lots, a tool that offers citizens and organizations instruction and resources to transform vacant land in our city into a variety of landscape designs that support our green infrastructure.
Achieving an Integrated Open Space Network in Detroit
The DFC Implementation Office is soon releasing an Open Space Report, which is the city’s most comprehensive and pioneering report on the matter to date. The report lays out 10 existing conditions, including stakeholder feedback, key planning considerations, recommendations for land ownership models, funding concepts, and key policy, regulatory, and legal considerations.
Brick + Beam Detroit
Brick+Beam, one of the DFC Implementation Office’s two Knight Cities Challenge winners and a partnership with Preservation Detroit and Michigan Historic Preservation Network, is starting strong this year with monthly programming planned to support rehab in Detroit by sharing knowledge, building talent, and providing access to the resources needed to get started or keep going. We are excited to announce the launch of brickandbeamdetroit.com and encourage you to explore the Q&A Forum and ‘Brag your Rehab’.
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It is ensuring that our new board of directors are providing the resources and support to implement these programs and other initiatives as we continue to position ourselves as stewards of the DFC Strategic Framework. As an independent organization, we will begin to expand the board and solidify our vision, mission and strategies. We will also start the process of active fundraising, to complement the current funders who have made all of this possible – the Kresge Foundation, Erb Family Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Michigan State Housing Development Authority, Americana Foundation, the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation and the City of Detroit.
As the new Executive Director, I look forward to working with each of you to further integrate and align with our diverse stakeholders to offer participation in ownership, and to transforming the DFC Strategic Framework from an exceptional agenda to an agenda of action for all Detroiters.
Best,
Anika Goss-Foster 
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