Faces of Michigan
Name: Bridget Christian
Year: Masters Class of 2007
Major: Master of Social Work
Home: Michigan
Bridget Christian makes a difference at the Creekside Community Development Corporation.
Since she joined AmeriCorps in January 2007, Bridget Christian has learned a little bit about a lot of things: She's learned how to work against urban blight and for homeownership. She's learned how to work with people down on their luck and with officials up at City Hall.
As an AmeriCorps volunteer at the Creekside Community Development Corporation in southeast Detroit, a short hop from Belle Isle, Christian has tracked down landlords who have failed to care for their property, organized rallies to keep a neighborhood school open, and found volunteers to plant trees. "Sometimes, it's just a matter of flyers and phone calls," Christian said.
And, sometimes, it can be frustrating, spending so much time putting out fires instead of working toward a long-term vision. "It's challenging trying to accomplish the long-term," she said. But Creekside CDC has a small staff — there are just three positions — and that means bouncing from one project to another. "It's a team effort," she said. "Everyone does everything."
Christian wanted to work on the southeast side of Detroit, even through it can mean a 1.5 hour drive from the U-M campus. It's a section of the city that's been ignored — southwest Detroit gets more attention and more resources, she said — yet it's a historic neighborhood with older homes. "There are few places in the world where the homes have canals in the backyard, but they do because of the access to the (Detroit) river," Christian said.
Work has been accomplished, from developing a community garden to creating summer programming in the parks for families to preserving local waterways and keeping them public. "We're making strides," Christian said. "I always think about 'The Little Engine that Could.'" And she feels she's making a difference. "Even when you're low on the totem pole, you can still have an impact here," she said.
Her work at Creekside CDC also serves as a field placement position for her MSW work with the School of Social Work. She expects to graduate in December. After graduation, Christian hopes to land a job in social work in Detroit, either working with youth or working in policy and politics.
Christian is one of 25 U-M students in AmeriCorps during the 2006-2007 grant year. (There are also more than 30 community AmeriCorps members.) AmeriCorps is a Ginsberg Center program.
Reprinted by permission from Ginsberg Center E-Newsletter (October 2007).