¡Under Construction!

Since the middle December we’ve been working on our space at 1253 Woodward Ave. We took what was a large mostly empty space, rearranged walls, added doors, added movable walls, covered the windows with 4,000 Post-It Notes, and countless other things that have required lots and lots of paperwork, permits and boring meetings. 

Why have we done all this?  To bring you a place that fits the needs we’re going to fill. If you’ve been keeping up with us over the past few months you know we have our hands in the job market, real estate market, tours, social events, retail space, small business classes, peer roundtables, and so much more. You can find out more about our mission on the About page, this page is to bring you loads of good info quick.

So on to the quick part - The week of May 23rd, we will officially be OPEN! So far we’ve been able to do all the above mentioned things while we’ve been juggling all the construction and “Welcome to town” meetings. 

The week of the 23rd we’ll have 6 days of free tours, to show off what is going on in Detroit, not just what we have going on, but what’s going on all around town. The D:hive does no good if there’s not a great and supportive Detroit behind it (stay tuned as we release the tour schedule). We invite you to stop in to see what we have going on before we’ve actually opened. We invite you to come back after the 23rd and see how it’s changed. We invite you to help make D:hive and Detroit stronger by participating in what we’re doing. 

Follow us @DhiveDetroit @dhiveLIVE @fb.DhiveDetroit

Live.  Work.  Engage.  

Come be my Neighbor, Come be my Co-Worker

I’m Kendra – the D:hive resident charged with helping better connect current and potential Detroit residents with places to live. 

Listening to Detroiters, we’ve learned that people want a greater number of reliable listings, along with details on neighborhoods and their amenities.  You may have noticed we already are working on some quick fixes — including a list of housing resources and a weekly list of availabilities (check out dhivedetroit.org/housing). These resources are just a starting point; we need your input on ways for them to improve and grow!

What I’m most excited to share is our upcoming project – Come be my Neighbor—an initiative and tool to connect people who want to live in Detroit with people who know it best.  Come be my Neighbor will provide a platform to highlight currently available homes or apartments, from the point of view of people who live there. 

Current Detroit residents—showcase and advocate for your neighborhood and help fill the house or apartment next door.  For those seeking housing— find the place you want to live, next to neighbors with a lifestyle and interests that match yours. 

I am currently looking for submissions from Detroiters who want to advocate for their neighborhoods, and fill the house or apartment next door! Submissions would include a 2-3 minute video, or a collection of photos and a blog post.  We want to see the places available to live in your neighborhood, but also who are you are, what your neighborhood is like, and why someone should live there.   Please contact me at kendra@dhivedetroit.org to learn more or get involved!

Hi, my name is Alex Prouhet, and I’m the resident at the D:hive that connects people interested in working in Detroit with the exciting employment opportunities the city has to offer. Along with general information, tours, and residential housing resources, D:hive wants to help talented  professionals find the perfect job in the great city of Detroit. And it’s the perfect time to do so as the demand for talented, enthusiastic professionals has never been higher. To respond to the growing need for new recruits, the D:hive is launching the Come be my Co-Worker program, which would attract outsiders by showcasing the city’s existing talent.

For those currently working in Detroit – “Come be my Co-Worker” would display the profile of an area employee along with a video or picture on our website. In the profile we would see a description of the company he or she works for, a description of the job in question, and a few words on why Detroit is such a great place to work.

The idea behind Come be my Co-Worker is to inform outsiders of the exciting opportunities available in Detroit and the advantages the city has to offer to young professionals. We believe that by hearing real stories from real people who work in the city, the message that Detroit is a great place to work becomes stronger. Currently, there is a demand from area employers for talented professionals; this is your opportunity to get involved in recruiting for Detroit.

I am looking for people employed in the greater downtown area to participate in the program and help the D:hive attract talented young professionals to Detroit.

To participate in the Come be my Co-Worker program, please contact me at alex@dhivedetroit.org or call me at (248)396-3956

Don’t forget to come and visit us at 1253 Woodward to check out our great new space!

Detroit Vegan Soul

D:hive is pleased to introduce you to one of our graduating members from our first BUILD class, Kirsten Ussery and her idea for Detroit Vegan Soul: 

D:hive and Detroit Vegan Soul - 

“D:hive helped me by providing the peer support and hands-on exercises necessary for me to first determine whether our business idea was viable, and secondly, to put together a business plan. Before taking the BUILD class, I really didn’t understand the financial pieces of a business plan such as break-even point, etc. But now I know, based on real, tangible costs and other factors what we need to do to ensure our business is a success. D:hive helped me to set realistic goals and set milestones along the way. But it wasn’t just the class activities and exercises that helped, it was the input, feedback, and connections received from peers in the class that provided was the biggest help.” Kirsten Ussery.

Kirsten Ussery is co-founder / co-owner of Detroit Vegan Soul. The other half of the business is Erika Boyd. She cooks the food, while Kirsten does the baking and together they promote the business. They will be publishing their Facebook page soon. 

About Detroit Vegan Soul - 

Detroit Vegan Soul LLC is a vegan meal delivery and catering company specializing in vegan soul food (a vegan twist on traditional soul food meals). Our mission is to help people live healthier lives by providing great-tasting, high-quality, nutritious vegan food, that appeals to all taste buds, while at the same time doing our part to support a sustainable earth.

To that end, we are committed to being a resource for:

• Busy people looking for delicious, healthy alternative meals for their families
• People looking to live healthier lives by incorporating more of a plant-based diets
• Anyone looking for the guiltless pleasure that delicious vegan food can offer
• Hands-on education on how to improve and maintain better health through proper food choices

We provide a menu of soul food favorites with a vegan twist such as Okra Stew with Cornbread, “Catfish” tofu, mac-n-cheez, and BBQ tofu just to name a few. Our food is prepared with organic produce, natural ingredients and sweeteners, all made without pesticides, preservatives, additives, refined flours, sugars, dairy, eggs and animal by-products. In support of a sustainable earth, we use bio-degradable packaging, and promote recycling. Because our ingredients are plant-based, it’s good for our customers and the planet.

Please take this short survey to help Detroit Vegan Soul https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DetroitVeganSoul

Those who complete the survey will have an option to enter a drawing for a $50 gas card

Urban Innovation Exchange

In the spirit of collaboration and cooperation, D:hive is excited to announce it’s partnership with Model D to launch a new initiative that will help connect Detroit’s urban innovators. 

Inside Detroit joins forces with D:hive

For six years, Inside Detroit has been showcasing the city’s assets through experiential tours. Next week the great work they do will be taken on by the D:hive. The D:hive, which began co-locating within the Inside Detroit Welcome Center last November, will expand Inside Detroit’s offerings by providing information and other resources related to real estate, jobs, important city data, retail, small business and more, becoming an air traffic control hub for people wishing to live, work and engage in the city.

Inside Detroit and D:hive have a shared goal to demystify Detroit for both existing residents and those new to Detroit. By joining forces, they seek to ensure that the information supplied to the public about the city is comprehensive, easily understood and readily accessible.

“We’ve been working with the D:hive for a few months now and it became apparent that we could do more together than we could separately,” says Jeanette Pierce, Executive Director of Inside Detroit. “Too often people and organizations put their individual needs ahead of the needs of the community. We want to be an example of how collaboration can have a powerful and positive impact.”

Some changes you can expect to take place this month include the Inside Detroit Welcome Center becoming the D:hive Welcome Center and undergoing a major redesign and renovation. Pertinent content, including booking of public and private tours, will be moved to the D:hive website; and Jeanette Pierce will move into the role of Director of Community Relations at the D:hive.

Leading the D:hive Team will be Jeff Aronoff. Aronoff comes to the D:hive from the law firm of Miller Canfield, where he has been a principal in the Public Law practice group. “D:hive is one of the most engaging and collaborative projects I’ve seen in a long time. I think it is exactly what Detroit needs right now, and I am excited to be a part of it.”

Josh McManus, Construction Superintendent of the D:hive came from Chattanooga to Detroit in November to launch the D:hive after completing a hugely successful 5-year nonprofit project called CreateHere. “We’re looking forward to taking the great work Inside Detroit has done and building on it to not only introduce people to Detroit, but to follow through on making sure they have all the resources they need to live, work and engage in the city.” McManus is in Detroit for 6 months to help set up the D:hive and will advise the project moving forward.

The D:hive is under the umbrella of the Downtown Detroit Partnership. If you are looking to start a business or project, check out the D:hive BUILD classes. If you already own a business or run an enterprise, the D:hive GROW Peer Roundtables can help. If you are looking for an engaging and high intensity entry level opportunity, then the D:hive Residency Program might be for you. If you want to get involved and engaged in Detroit, D:hive wants to make it happen. Please peruse our temporary Tumblr page, visit the D:hive Welcome Center at 1253 Woodward or call at 313-962-4590. 

We look forward to helping you get to know Detroit.

Many Thanks,

Josh, Jeff, April, Megan, Jeanette, and Erika
The D:hive Construction Team

BUILD

Apparently I’m more ready for a change in weather than most Michiganders. My Southern friends have been taunting me from afar and have left me dreaming of 60 degree weather and flip-flops. While my toes are snugly secure in a pair of snow boots today, I do have the spring cheer offered by our window fronts. Have you seen them? We’ve been turning heads this past week with our installation of nearly 4,000 Post-it notes. Still a work in progress, the window front will evolve in the coming weeks. 

I mentioned D:hive’s BUILD classes last week. I’ve been sitting in on the first session we started four weeks ago. Speaking of works in progress, it’s been inspiring to see so many projects and small businesses in their infancy stages. Each one is based in Detroit and has the potential to positively affect the city.

There’s already a lot of buzz around BUILD. I met someone this weekend who’d heard about the classes and recently applied to join. She’d had a small business and felt that she hadn’t quite gotten things right. This time around she wanted expert guidance and the opportunity to network with others. BUILD’s going to be the perfect for her.

In the time that I’ve been taking BUILD classes, I’ve learned which ducks to have in a row and when, I learned that it’s best to have an attorney on my side and costly to not and I’ve met with encouraging mentors in my field of interest. What I didn’t expect was to have so much fun with fast friends while gaining valuable knowledge. Our team even encourages each other before class with pep videos! For anyone wondering how to reach a north star dream, I encourage you to start with BUILD. You’ll gain valuable insights and tools, and having a little fun along the way didn’t hurt anyone.

And I know as much as I moan about the cold – to my friends down South – ain’t no thing but a chicken wing. Ya’ll got nothing on my snow driving skills.

- Aysha Siddique

Hello.

My name is Aysha. I grew up on the west coast, moved to east to go to school and found myself here, in Detroit, this past November. Before I landed, there were a couple of things that needed to be in place: a place to live and work. The first place I hit up was my Google search engine, which spit back a few, not so promising options. The second place I looked was my contact list. Ah, much more fruitful. Here I found one person, who connected me to another and another and voila, I had a place to stay and the means to stay in it.

Post-landing, or rather post-coasting via a 17-foot U-haul truck with my car in tow, I realized things still weren’t intuitive. I didn’t know where to buy deodorant, where to recycle my moving boxes or where to find gluten-free, organic oats. (I obsessively make my own granola, and yeah, I’ve been accused of smelling like incense.)

Where to play was easy. Within spitting distance of Astro Coffee, Sugar House and Slows Bar-B-Q, it didn’t take long to make fast friends and locate said granola, Recycle Here! and the nearest drug store. And it wasn’t much longer before I learned about the D:hive, which helps newcomers like me.

The D:hive is a resource for not just newcomers, but anyone wanting to live, work and engage in all the awesome goings on of our city. When I first walked into the D:hive in November, I was welcomed and celebrated for choosing Detroit. I returned the warm reception by volunteering immediately and in January, I became the organization’s first resident.

I’ve seen many firsts in my time with the D:hive. In December we had our first Pollinate! event where we gathered feedback and ideas to help us identify existing resources and assess areas of need. In January, we launched our first session of BUILD classes for those with a project, program or business idea that will positively impact Detroit.  And soon, we’ll soon kick off GROW, a forum for social, cultural and economic entrepreneurs who are looking to learn from one another and from experienced business leaders in order to address and solve problems.

There are other exciting things in the works. I know it’s technically not spring (even though I was sitting on a bench in short sleeves recently), but our space will soon be blooming with color. Stop by here next week to see what I mean, or even better, visit us at 1253 Woodward Avenue. I’d love to meet you.

- Aysha Siddique