On the Ground helps to tell the story of the people, projects, and innovations that are creating “what’s next” for communities. The intended impact is for “solutions-oriented” media coverage, engagement, and ultimately understanding of the community, resulting in awareness and investments that can contribute to the vitality and prosperity of the district covered.
The concept of On the Ground is to use an “embedded journalism” model to maintain a presence in a specific community. During this time the publication focuses weekly coverage on those neighborhoods to tell the story of the people, organizations, and businesses working and living there.
On the Ground has been embedded in the city of Ypsilanti since July 2017.
On the Ground is supported by Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission, Washtenaw Community College, Destination Ann Arbor, Eastern Michigan University, Ann Arbor SPARK, Washtenaw ISD, and Center for Health and Research Transformation.
To learn more about On the Ground program, click here.
The incorporation is the result of serendipitous timing for both organizations, as FLY needed a more permanent location while Riverside Arts Center was looking to add programming.
The program, which connects Ypsi High students to local unpaid internship opportunities that align with their career interests, aims to make students better prepared to enter the workforce.
Ypsi artist Jermaine Dickerson founded the convention, which is the first major initiative for a broader movement aimed at uplifting marginalized groups through comic books.
We stopped by this weekend's Ypsilanti Heritage Festival and Parkridge Summer Festival to compile a photo essay chronicling what locals love about the community they call home.
The sustainability plan is starting small, but sustainability commissioners say it stands to have major implications for development projects, the city's urban poor, and local businesses.
Community debate over the debt on the troubled city property was resolved when voters approved a millage to pay it off this August, but there's considerably more history to Water Street than that – and much more to come.
This year more than 150 kids registered for the Summer Playground Program, which provides two weeks of educational and recreational activities at three different playgrounds.
A student-led music festival aiming to counteract some commonly held assumptions about the local music scene and give exposure to lesser-known artists is returning for its second year in Ypsi.
Numerous downtown Ypsi business owners are working together to help new businesses get started, as well as doing what they can to support and promote existing businesses.
H.E.H. Human Electric Hybrids' electric bicycle shop opened just weeks ago, but it's already attracted customers from as far as Toronto and delivered products as far away as Mackinaw City.
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