Google Ads

Showing posts with label Water Access Volunteer Effort. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Water Access Volunteer Effort. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Pushing with CUSHingberry to Provide Afforable Water to Detroit Residents

by Friends of Cushingberry


The Water Residential Assistance Program (WRAP) launching March 1, will provide qualifying customers at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty threshold, with help in paying current and past-due water bills. WRAP is a Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) regional program offered in several counties including Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb. The program will be administered through the Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency in Detroit.

Eligible DWSD customers will receive a $25 monthly bill credit with any arrearages frozen for 12 months. Customers who successfully make their monthly payments for one year will receive an additional credit of up to $700 applied toward their arrears.

In addition, qualifying residents with water usage exceeding 20 percent of the average household water consumption in the city, are eligible for a free home water conservation audit. Based on the audit, customers may receive up to an additional $1,000 for minor household plumbing repairs. 
Participants may continue in the program for up to 24 months but must reapply annually.

The terms of the program which were recently approved by the GLWA board, will provide Detroit residents with approximately $1.5 million of the $4.5 million allocated for 126 municipalities in seven southeast Michigan counties. Approximately 44,000 of Detroit’s 175,000 residential water accounts are on a payment plan, up from 9,000 a year ago. Residents on the plan are not subject to shutoff.

To apply for the WRAP, residents may call Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency (on or after March 1) at 313.386.WRAP (9727) or visit the website at www.waynemetro.org/wrap

Thursday, January 21, 2016

District 2 State of the District Field Report - Continue the Push with Pro Tem Cush!

Greetings,

A Toast to Deception by the
Emergency Manager and Flint Officials
          The situation in Flint Michigan regarding the water is a criminal act of negligence committed by employees of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.  We are strongly recommending that Barbara McQuade and Loretta Lynch with the United States Department of Justice to convene a grand jury to investigate and prosecute anyone involved in the falsification of documents that produced this disaster. There is no excuse for this criminal behavior from Civil Servants who took an oath to serve the people with honesty and integrity.  As compensation to Flint residents, their co-pays for the Affordable Care Act shall be significantly reduced by %95 to %100 to accommodate the health care needs of the affected.  When the water is so bad that General Motors can’t use it to build their cars, then why it was good for people to drink according to State of Michigan “experts”. The participants in this modern day Tuskegee Experiment for profit shall be stung like a Hornet in a court of law.

        The process for obtaining a License for Marijuana Caregiver Centers is taking place as we speak. Fees by law will not be higher than $1000 and through the referendum process a fair and equitable ordinance will become the law of all the people.  Unfortunately, there are some members in our community who want to create a problem that does not exist.  There are some in the community who say that these places bring crime and drive the values of property down.  Under further inspection by Council staff members of these businesses, these allegations are not true. Recently in January of 2016, Detroit Police Chief James Craig was quoted on Detroit Speaks with Cliff Russell (WCHB 1200 AM Detroit MI) that the crime numbers associated with these Marijuana places are not there and, the department has more issues to deal with like murders, car jackings, and mentally ill people that need help instead of jail.

        We have African American pastors that own Caregiver Centers that employ many people. They do not support the 1000 foot requirement from a religious institution and requesting that this and other provisions be placed on the ballot for November 2016. Furthermore some of these pastors should know better and seem to forget the history of the Slave Trade were Black People sold other Black people into slavery. In this case the pastors support keeping marijuana illegal to support the for profit prison industry.  There are cities like Ypsilanti, Lansing, Flint, that have many Caregiver Centers in their cities, therefore the allegations made by community groups regarding these places of business are unfounded and remind you of the 1939 Reefer Madness movement.

                The Livernois Avenue of Fashion is thriving again with new lights and businesses that meet the needs of their customers.  The lights took longer than expected because the wiring on the street was over 50 years old. We support the business owners on the Avenue who want the parking meters removed from the street.  They have caused the business owners to lose customers because of the inflexibility of the meters and our office is working with the owners to resolve the problems. We want more people to start voicing their concerns to Wayne County and Lansing for the condition of Outer Drive from Livernois all the way to Southfield Freeway.  Between Livernois and Wyoming, the road conditions are atrocious and needs to be paved over immediately. We want to highlight and give a shout out to the new Hartford Village complex on Meyers and welcome to our new residents who will be living there.

                The empty land at the State Fairgrounds has a site plan and layout by the Magic Plus LLC group. We hope that this group can expand their efforts as far as they can between Woodward, John R, 8 Mile, and McNichols because this area is begging for redevelopment. The plan is for a movie theater,  housing, and a fully modal transportation center that includes, Amtrak, Light Rail, DDOT, and SMART. On 7 mile and Woodward a faith based transportation hub in partnership with the Tasty World, BP Gas Station, Miles Green Acres Compassion Center, and the Perfecting Church will facilitate the connection between North, South, East, and West distances in the city.  We support the participation of the Magic Plus Group in the re-vitalization of Detroit.  We will continue to support the development of a regional light rail system that will rival Miami, Washington DC, and New York rail systems. 

        This growth within the district may result in the re-activation of the fire house at Curtis and Livernois that is 2.5 miles from Pasteur School into a fully operational fire house. In layperson terms there will be two fire trucks instead of one with a rescue unit. Some of the older firehouses may qualify for a historic grant because of the age of the facility.  This means that a Detroit based company like CAASTI Construction Company (www.caasti.com) can redo the interior of fire houses and create job opportunities for carpenters, bricklayers, electricians, etc.  

         This growth will continue with the additional officers needed at the 12th Precinct because of the redevelopment of the old State Fairgrounds property by Magic PLUS. When this project is completed DPD will be adding at least 10 new officers to patrol the new neighborhood.
        
         The Adams/Butzel Recreation Center has a world class NHL sized hockey skating rink. It is one of the Department’s premiere recreation centers in the district. Did you know that African Americans invented the game of Hockey? (click here to find out)  If you want to learn how to play the game, then this is the place to come.  Trainers with professional hockey experience are available to teach you the basics.

         We will work to remove one of the Emergency Managers orders regarding the parking tickets. We want citizens to get a 24 hour grace period to pay a $20 fine instead of being socked $45 a pop.  Michigan cities like Lansing are forgiving when it comes to parking tickets and people. 

Property Tax Progress (click here)

Finally, we want to give a shout out to Pastor Oscar King of the Northwest Unity Baptist Church whose leadership in the District has helped to make for a better quality of life in our neighborhood and our city.


Fire up Detroit, Fire Up!










Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Water Access Volunteer Effort (WAVE) Fund Assistance

The Water Access Volunteer Effort (WAVE) Fund provides assistance to low-income families during a crisis by ensuring uninterrupted access to safe drinking water and sanitation services. Since established, WAVE has assisted over 9,100 families and households and has distributed over $2 million toward water bills in the area to help retain services.
Funds are earmarked specifically for payment of water and sewer bills. Contributions are tax deductible and no water and sewer revenues are used.
The maximum allowance for assistance is 50% of the bill up to $500. Customers may receive WAVE Fund help only once in any calendar year. The WAVE Fund assistance must restore service or assure service continuation for at least 30 days. To find out if you qualify for assistance from this program, call (313) 366-8535 or (313) 964-9094.