The Motor City Blight Busters are developing Veteran's Village Center, which provides housing for veterans and the opportunity to work with their organization.
The Center is currently under renovation. It’s located in Northwest Detroit near other properties owned by Blight Busters.
John George is founder and president of Motor City Blight Busters. The non-profit has a 25-year record of working to stabilize and revitalize Detroit through partnerships and volunteer efforts.
Veteran's Village Center is a partnership with United Peace Relief, an organization that works with veterans to provide disaster relief around the country.
George says, "The disaster of Detroit, it took 50 years, a lot of times people don't feel it's equivalent to a tornado or a hurricane but it is, and what's nice is the vets are working with us, basically using Detroit as a boot camp, to train the vets so when a disaster does strike, they could head out and help out."
George describes the veterans as having a leadership position within Blight Busters. The veterans help to organize the 10,000 volunteers that work with the organization annually along with working with youth in the area.
"It's really a great opportunity for them to continue to serve and help locally."