By Jada Vasser, Planet Detroit
This article was republished with permission from Planet Detroit. Sign up for Planet Detroit’s weekly newsletter here.
Six years ago, the Association for the Advancement of Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing was founded by four mothers who wanted to create change and educational programming for their deaf children and community.
“We are dedicated to improving the educational and occupational outcomes of Deaf/Hard of Hearing youth and young adults by creating more accessible educational and occupational experiences,” Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Toni Cannon-Mitchell told Planet Detroit.
Now, with the support of a $5,000 City of Detroit grant, Cannon-Mitchell is expanding that mission to include climate equity, with a focus on healthy eating and growing your own food. The grant supports community projects that help advance the city’s climate strategy by creating climate resilience, energy efficiency, and food waste reduction.
The project will create a community garden that produces cleaner air and food. Solar panels will power the garden, including a rain garden to reduce flooding and fruits and vegetables for the community to eat. The garden will be located at 9591 Ward St Detroit, MI 48227, with plans to open next month.
“We are currently using these funds to… teach our community about growing their own vegetables, avoiding harmful chemicals in food and household products, and how to be sufficient without damaging the climate,” Cannon-Mitchell said.
The community garden will reinforce the importance of trees and the oxygen they give off. AADHH’s climate project stems from the lack of trees in Detroit communities and the pandemic’s mask mandates creating air and carbon dioxide restrictions, which trees and nature need to thrive and produce oxygen.
Community engagement and adaptation help advance Detroit’s climate strategy. Cannon-Mitchell said that AADHH supports bringing the community together and creating lifelong partnerships that help the city of Detroit improve.
AADHH creates events for community youth tailored to keep them conscious about everyday life. These include money management, public transportation, and how to grow their own food.
Youth and young adult participants learn various skills, including learning ASL and how to translate ASL to English and vice versa, to prepare the deaf/hard of hearing community for encounters with someone who is hearing.
“One of my goals for the youth this year is making sure that all the different upcoming resources, programs, extracurricular activities and summer events happening in Detroit are available and accessible for our youth to participate in,” Cannon-Mitchell said. “They have that available for the youth, but it’s not always accessible, and our goal is to make things more accessible and affordable.”
AADHH will host several free events for deaf youth and young adults in the coming weeks. Transportation is included.
- “Navigating Directions” will be held on June 8 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
- Money management will be held on July 20 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- A family gardening workshop will be held on Saturday, June 8, from 1 to 3 p.m. t
- A Fish Fry Fundraiser will be held June 22 from 12 p.m. – 4 p.m.
- Detroit Tigers Deaf game night on July 26 starting at 6:40 p.m.
For more information on event locations, organization as a whole and how to get involved, visit their website at www.aadhh.org along with their social media pages on Facebook at “AADHH” and Instagram @aadhhnonprofit.
Catch more news at Great Lakes Now:
Surviving a metro Detroit summer in the climate change era
Meet the man who has been cleaning the Rouge River for 35 years
Featured image: Detroit deaf and hard-of hearing youth prepare seeds for a new community garden. (Photo courtesy of Jurmel Mitchell Sr.)
