Seen Magazine

2024 Community  Changemakers

Outlier Media

“Tapping into people power to plant trees on vacant neighborhood land
As groups see their influence, undertakings grow, the struggle to balance an aspirational vision with resources and impact persists…”

Seen Magazine

“Within neglected quarters of Detroit, hyperlocal revitalization efforts to restore parts of the city’s sprawling alleyway network are reinventing their purpose in the process…”

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation 

“Transforming  neighborhood blight into an approximately 2-acre, accessible therapeutic forest…” 

Neighborhood Beautification Program Press Conference 

Neighborhood Beautification Program grant awardees 

RMNN is a 2022 Neighborhood Beautification Grant Awardee! Thank you CBS for highlighting our work in District 3 in Detroit!

Talk Tree to Me - Facilitating a Complex Conversation Around Trees in Detroit

The jury declared it an “innovative way to engage the public…especially during those days of isolation and uncertainty.” The project sought to call attention to the role trees play in urban areas and to facilitate a complex and nuanced conversation about the environment. Talk Tree to Me is an interactive design project that was installed for the Month of Design  a month-long design festival in Detroit  that explores the complex relationship between communities and trees.

2022 Jury Awards

The Nolan district in District 3 on the east side of Detroit is home to a standout case study. Butted against the I-75, a main artery connecting the downtown Detroit to Michigan’s northern frontier, 29 parcels of land with Nolan have been cleaned up and pointed towards nature. A collaboration steered by non-profit Rescue MI Nature Now has involved university students, local residents and city youth in a clean-up effort that started in 2019. University of Michigan-Dearborn Dr. Paul Draus has helped frame the project within the broader concept of Urban Acupuncture, enhancing spaces by making small changes the catalyze systematic change.

Andrew Buendia is a graduate from the University of Michigan-Dearborn with a dual bachelors in Political Science and Sociology. Fueled by a passion to ensure that Detroit communities are directly representative of not just the current residents, but also the long lineage of residents is what prompted Andrew to become more involved with the city he grew up in. One way to do this is by coordinating community relations to gain better insight to what the community not only wants, but the best method of action to go about solving their impending issues.

Brodrick Wilks is a Recent University of Michigan graduate with a Bachelor’s of Business Administration; coordinated with Brilliant Detroit to host 30 Axiom student volunteers in August 2019 where they helped transform vacant lots by beautifying and cleaning up a green space and removing overgrown tree brush and weeds from community garden.