Will Detroit be able to sweep this street?

DPW says they're going to sweep this - Photo by Frank Nemecek

According to the signs that are posted from one end of Ashton Ave. to the other in Warrendale, the City of Detroit's Department of Public Works is supposed to sweep the streets today. I mean, that is what the signs say.

Personally, I wonder if they're going to be able to do it. What do you think?

I mean, maybe if they got the sweepers really, really hot or something.

Update at 8:07 p.m.
The "no parking" signs are now gone. The street, however, has not been swept.

I'm totally shocked.

Job readiness workshop to be held tomorrow in Detroit

Training workshop - Illustration by Mohammed Hasan on Pixabay

The City of Detroit will host a job readiness workshop to better prepare unemployed and underemployed residents for the career that they desire. This important event will begin tomorrow, November 12 at 6 p.m. and will run until 7:30 p.m. that evening. This will happen in the St. Suzanne Cody Rouge Community Resource Center (19321 West Chicago), which is approximately one mile north of the Warrendale neighborhood.

One of the things that this workshop will discuss is the Detroit at Work program. That’s a program that provides job training and job placement assistance to Detroiters. It focuses on growing sectors such as construction, healthcare, hospitality and retail, information technology, and manufacturing.

They will also talk about financial education for Detroiters. Finally, during this workshop they will  provide advice on two other important details that are essential for getting the job you want. This is advice on how to interview for the job you want and how to dress for that job interview.

The Detroit at Work program currently has 7,249 job available in our area. More job opportunities are added all the time.

There is no charge to attend this workshop tomorrow. However, those wishing to attend are asked to RSPV by either calling Eric Fowlkes at (313) 236-3516 or emailing fowlkese [at] detroitmi [dot] gov. His email address, of course, is presented in a way that humans should be able to understand but that spam robots should find difficult.

The job readiness workshop is presented by the City of Detroit and Huntington Bank.

Help is here to get your finances in order

Getting a hand up - Photo by Tumisu on Pixabay

If you look at the statistics, it's clear that most Americans are a financial mess. The typical American family today has too much debt, not enough savings, no financial plan, no life insurance, and is basically one hardship away from financial ruin. The one ray of hope in this is that, for Detroiters at least, the Financial Empowerment Center is here to help.

The Financial Empowerment Center offers professional, one-on-one financial counseling as a free service to Detroiters. They enable residents to address their financial challenges and plan for their futures. The FEC is a partnership between the City of Detroit, the Wayne County Treasurer’s Office, and Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency.

Residents receive free, one-on-one professional counseling assistance with their finances.The FEC's professional counselors can help Detroiters take control of their debt as well as:

• Deal with debt collectors;
• Improve your credit;
• Build your savings;
• Create a budget and create a plan to stick to it; and
• Find safe and affordable financial products.

These professionally trained counselors support their clients in navigating complex financial challenges and choices. They help Detroiters identify and meet present challenges and future ambitions. Counseling services are integrated into other social services including housing and foreclosure prevention services, workforce development, prisoner reentry, and benefits access.

All of their counseling services, including credit report analysis, are availabel free of charge. There are no income limits or residency requirements. Interpreting and translation services are available upon request.

Detroiters are invited to schedule an appointment with a FEC counselor by calling (313) 322-6222. Appointments are available at the Wayne County Treasurer's Office (400 Monroe St.) downtown or at Wayne Metro Lakeshore (7310 Woodward Ave.), in the New Center area.

The Detroit Financial Empowerment Center is funded by the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund, JPMorgan Chase, Wayne County Treasurer’s Office, and the Skillman Foundation.

These tips are brought to you by the Warrendale Detroit Blog as part of our Tip of the Week series. Please check back next week for more advice on your home, money, and life. In the meantime, please feel free to follow the author Frank Nemecek on Twitter and Instagram as @fnemecek for more great content.

Review - Killng Quarry

Killing Quarry by Max Allan Collins - Cover art by Paul Mann

Who put Quarry in the crosshairs?

That’s the question that drives Killing Quarry by the bestselling author of Road To Perdition, Max Allan Collins. It hits bookstores tomorrow but I got a chance to take a look at it ahead of time.

The titular character Quarry is a Marine sniper turned hitman. He has spent the past decade killing for money; first for an agent known only as The Broker and now as a freelance hitman. His one redeeming quality is that he has always been on the right side of those contract kills.

All of this changes while he is on an assignment. Someone tries to kill him. Quarry needs to find out who and why fast.

One of the things that I find to be very impressive about Killing Quarry is how Collins managed a very successful balancing act. This is his 16th Quarry novel, which means that his character has a lot of backstory already built up.

In this installment, Collins was able to remain consistent with the legacy yet not get so caught up in it that readers who never read any of the previous installment could still understand and enjoy his story. He carefully drops enough details about the character in the first couple of chapters that a first-timer could feel caught up yet not so many details that returning readers feel weighed down.

“The Quarry books are some of our most popular and been too long since readers have had the pleasure of a new one,” explained Charles Ardai who founded and edits Hard Case Crime, which publishes the Quarry novels. “We’re thrilled to bring this classic antihero back to put him through the wringer like he’s never been before.”

One other thing that I liked about this book is the way Collins handled turning the proverbial tables on his main character. It felt authentic and engaging. In my experience, very few novelists can maintain that sense of authenticity and engagement after this many stories. Even Ian Fleming only managed to hold it together for 12 James Bond novels and two collections of short stories.

For all of those reasons, I’m proud to recommend Killing Quarry by Max Allan Collins.

Killing Quarry by Max Allan Collins is available for pre-order now on Amazon.com by clicking here or on the graphic below. It is also available at fine bookstores everywhere.

The Warrendale Detroit Blog is proud to offer occassional reviews of books that we enjoy.

Community-wide meeting this Wednesday

An avenue - Photo by Peter H./Pixabay

Over the past nine months, residents and community  groups throughout Warrendale have come together and worked with the City of Detroit’s Planning and Development Department. They are going to propose a series of projects for the built environment of this neighborhood. This includes improvements to our streets, our houses, our parks, our businesses, and more.

After all of this work, it’s time for everyone to come out and see what these groups have come up with. The City of Detroit and others are eager to get feedback on everyone who lives or works in Warrendale. This is an essential part of building a community.

To that end, there will be a community-wide meeting this Wednesday, November 13 at the Dick & Sandy Dausch Campus NFL/YET of the Boys & Girls Club of Southeastern Michigan (16500 Tireman Ave.). Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. Presentations will start at 6 p.m.

In addition, childcare will be provided on site for this meeting. If you have young ones that won’t sit through a presentation and you don’t have someone else to watch them, those facts should not be an excuse for not participating. Your voice is an important part of this meeting and that’s why there will be someone there to watch young kids while the adults talk about the future of our neighborhood.

Refreshments will also be provided for those attending this meeting.

Parking is available for this meeting in the lot at the Boys & Girls Club. If that lot fills up, additional parking will be available at the O’Live Church of God in Christ (16601 Tireman Ave.). The church is basically across the street from where this meeting will happen.

There is no cost or commitment for anyone to attend. I hope to see a lot of my neighbors in attendance this coming Wednesday evening.

Detroit is the worst city in the USA for veterans

Veterans | Illustration by tammyatWTI/Pixabay

Dear Detroit,

We need to talk.

Veteran’s Day will be upon us soon. I know this because I’ve already gotten announcements from a few different restaurants announcing specials for active and former members of the military. It won’t be much long until a series of talking heads fill our television screen talking about the debt that we owe veterans and how great our country is because of them.

That’s nice and all. But here’s the thing: Detroit was just named the worst city in the United States for veterans. At first, I thought this was just another case of some media outlet back Detroit. Again.

But this time, they brought receipts. Out of the 100 largest cities in America, Detroit ranks 83^rd in the percentage of homeless veterans. We also come in at:

• 82^nd out of 100 for median veteran income;
• 97^th out of 100 for the percentage of veterans living in poverty; and
• 98^th out of 100 veterans unemployment rate.

Those are four very big categories that show we are failing the veterans that we are calling heroes. Oh, and, by the way, it gets worse.

This the third time that Detroit has held this dubious distinction. WXYZ-TV reported on it in 2018. The Metro Times reported on this 2017. This now makes three years in a row when we have been the worst city in the United States for veterans. None of the issues addressed in either of the previous years.

Another one of these lists will come out again next year. I would really like it if Detroit was not the worst city for veterans a fourth year in a row.

Can we as Detroiters all agree on that as a goal?

Whether it’s a love for our veterans, outright anger at this problem going on for so long, or just not wanting to be the target of another one of these lists – whatever motivates to get involved; that works for me.

What can you do? I’m not sure but I’m pretty sure that anyone of these eight veterans service organizations in Detroit will have an idea about what you can do to help if you reach out to them. If anyone else has an idea, please leave it in the comments below.

We need to do better, Detroit.

10 Tips for funding a major housing repair

Home repairs in progress - Photo courtesty of Pexels

Once you reach a certain stage in your life, you begin to plan for contingencies. In your early 20s, while you are finishing a degree or starting a career, you often live paycheck to paycheck. As you grow older and build savings, earn some credit and start a family, your financial responsibility starts to grow, too -- especially once you purchase a home.

For homeowners, keeping your property healthy will be one of your top priorities. Not only is your house your family’s haven, but it’s also an investment you want to protect. Staying on top of major and minor repairs can help you stay both comfortable and secure in your investment — but it can also be costly.

Many Detroit home owners qualify for an interest-free loan to cover the cost of repairing their home provided that they meet certain income requirements or live in qualified areas of the city. Warrendale is one of those qualified area so residents of our neighborhood are eligible regardless of their income. To get the process started, homeowners need to fill out this information packet.

For those who don't live within the Detroit city limits, here are some ways to help you plan so home repairs don’t cause an unexpected blow to your savings.

1. Start saving early and add to it often. Even if you can’t put much into savings, commit to some amount every pay period. Over time, as your salary increases or your spending habits level out, begin adding more.
2. Take time researching the right contractors. If you know in advance who to hire, you’ll be better able to budget for major home repairs. Ask neighbors and friends for recommendations; they are more reliable than online reviews.
3. Know what your home insurance policy covers and your deductible. Keep track of your receipts and purchases in case you need to make a claim to help with a repair. Be sure your savings account always has enough to cover the deductible.
4. Look into taking a cash out refinance to help pay for the costs of emergency repairs. A cash for remodel option allows you to use your home equity by replacing your current mortgage with a higher-balance loan, providing you with the difference between the two to use toward repairs and improvements, like replacing a roof or installing a new HVAC unit.
5. Tackle easy, DIY projects on your own. Minor repairs like a squeaky floorboard or a loose railing can often be fixed quickly and with simple tools. If you need instruction, there are hundreds of high quality online tutorial videos to follow.
6. Research home loans and grants that could be available to you. If you are a veteran or are making a modification to accommodate a disability, you may be able to apply for grants or loans with a lower percentage rate.
7. Stay on top of upkeep and maintenance. It’s easier to keep your hardwood from getting scuffed than to refinish your floors. Focus on keeping your home’s elements in top shape.
8. Share your space. You can make extra money by renting out an extra bedroom or guest house on a site like Airbnb and VRBO. Put this side income back into your home by funding repair projects and improvements.
9. Get warranties to cover maintenance, upkeep and damage over the years, especially on big ticket items like roofing, plumbing and appliances. 
10. Pay off your debt. Setting a budget and working on a plan to pay off your debt will free up your income for home improvement projects. For example, some people have had success paying off credit cards quickly by transferring a balance to a card that offers 0% APR. That way you don’t wind up spending the majority of your payments in interest.

Homeowners spend an average of 1-4% of their home’s value annually on repairs. While you can’t always be prepared for every kind of repair, having a financial safety net in place will help make paying for these situations much easier.

Rarely is it one solution, but a combination of two or more can help keep repair costs manageable. Home improvement projects can make your home more appealing and enjoyable, both as a place to live and an investment to rely on.

These tips are brought to you by the Warrendale Detroit Blog as part of our Tip of the Week series. Please check back next week for more advice on your home, money, and life. In the meantime, please feel free to follow the author Frank Nemecek on Twitter and Instagram as @fnemecek for more great content.