MISSION & VISION

Who We Are

Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision (SDEV) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the environment and strengthen the economy of Southwest Detroit through the partnership with residents, community organizations, government agencies, schools, businesses and industry to combat environmental issues, including air quality, blight (illegal dumping, graffiti, abandoned homes), and incompatible land use. SDEV is funded through memberships, individual and corporate donations, and grants. SDEV’s work would not be possible without the dedication of our community volunteers.

SDEV began in 1991 as a two-year project. Its purpose was to initiate a dialogue between Southwest Detroit’s business/industrial interests and community residents. The result was a community plan focused on four major topics:

  1. Abandoned buildings & illegal dumping;

  2. Air quality;

  3. Contaminated sites, and

  4. Land use.

SDEV was incorporated as a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) organization in 1992 to oversee the direct implementation of the community plan. In 2014, The Detroit Free Press named SDEV a Michigan Green Leader.

Mission

Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision's mission is to work in coalition with residents, community organizations, schools and other community institutions, business and industry, and municipal agencies to improve the quality of life and eliminate pollution-related health impacts in Southwest Detroit and the region.

Vision

SDEV is a community-based leader and voice for the environment and economic development in Southwest Detroit, an environmentally healthy community that is a model for urban revitalization based on community participation.

Our Projects

SDEV’s programs and projects include Clean Diesel and Healthy Business projects, a Healthy Homes program, Neighborhood Beautification projects, and Storm Water Bioretention demonstration projects. Please visit our HEALTHY AIR and LAND & WATER page for more information on current and past projects.

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Connecting Community to Our Mission By:

  • Collecting and disseminating information on environmental issues affecting Southwest Detroit;

  • Developing an environmentally informed and active citizenry;

  • Serving as a catalyst and resource for initiatives to improve the environment and stimulate environmentally sound economic development;

  • Identifying and expanding common ground for addressing environmental issues through reasoned dialogue

Examples of How We Make a Difference:

COMMUNITY

that creates a greener, more sustainable collective community impact - leveraging more than 12,000 volunteer hours to host over 75 neighborhood clean-up events and tire sweeps, install over 15 green infrastructure projects, remediate graffiti sites, and recruit businesses & community partners to collaborate on beautification projects. Facilitating reuse of abandoned property through targeted assistance to community partners to transform vacant, blighted spaces into productive community places like parks and gardens. Promoting remediation and redevelopment of contaminated sites (e.g. phase I & II assessments of brownfield sites in SW Detroit).

DEVELOPING AN ENVIRONMENTALLY

informed and active citizenry-spearheading efforts to create clean safe zones free of illegal dumping, gang graffiti, abandoned vehicles, and dangerous buildings in targeted areas around SW Detroit schools and community gathering spaces. Serving as a catalyst and resource for initiatives to improve the environment and stimulate environmentally sound economic development. Collecting and disseminating information on environmental issues affecting Southwest Detroit.

IMPROVING THE ENVIRONMENT

on a regional level- reducing diesel emissions by more than 5,500 tons annually through SDEV’s Clean Diesel Program (i.e. reduces toxic diesel emissions from trucks, off-road equipment, and boats by replacing old, polluting engines with new clean diesel engines).

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Southwest Detroit is home to 88,000 residents who have seen much change over the years. This section of Detroit has Michigan’s only oil refinery, a sewage treatment plant that serves 128 communities, the busiest border crossing between the US and Canada, three major freeways, three steel mills, a 300-acre intermodal freight yard, and oil/metal/waste processing industries. Living among these industrial components has negatively affected the lives of the residents. SDEV works to stop these injustices and create a healthier living environment for the community