MEDIA ADVISORY
Dec. 4, 2013
Contact: Mae Yousif-Bashi, 313-842-1935, mbashi@accesscommunity.org
***MEDIA ADVISORY FOR 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 6***
ACCESS celebrates five years with JIRAN program – uniting, bettering and beautifying southwest Detroit community
DEARBORN, Mich. – On Friday, Dec. 6, ACCESS will celebrate five years of uniting, bettering and beautifying a southwest Detroit community through the Join in to Revitalize Arab American Neighborhoods (JIRAN) program, funded by the Skillman Foundation’s Good Neighborhoods Initiative.
The JIRAN program will be ending for the year in December, but will pick back up again in March. Friday’s program celebrates ACCESS’ participation in the program during the past five years, as well as those in the community — young and old — who stepped up by becoming part of the program.
Participants cleaned up neighborhoods; helped fund and install porch lights to make dark streets safer for residents; organized a complete park renovation and clean up of Detroit’s Romanowski Park, which was, at one point, slated to be closed down; secured funds to have two crossing guards stationed near a local school with dangerous street crossings; developed a Safe Routes to School program; and assisted with many more community-building projects.
Guests at Friday’s celebration will hear from Program Coordinator Aswan Almaktary, ACCESS Youth & Education Director Anisa Sahoubah, adult and youth members of the JIRAN program, and a member of the Skillman Foundation.
Click here for a video about JIRAN, and here for a video on JIRAN’s crossing guard project.
***** Please RSVP by calling Mae at 313-842-1935 *****
WHAT: JIRAN celebration highlighting unification, betterment and beautification of the Chadsey/Condon southwest Detroit community.
WHEN: 3:30-5:30 p.m., Friday, Dec. 6
WHERE: ACCESS Family & Youth Services Center gymnasium
2651 Saulino Ct.
Dearborn, MI 48120
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Grounded in the Arab American tradition of hospitality, ACCESS has a 41-year history of providing health, education, employment and social services in greater Detroit to empower people to lead healthy, informed, productive lives. Today, ACCESS extends that mission to a national platform through advocacy, arts, culture and philanthropy. Visit us online at www.accesscommunity.org.