Visual Impact Systems Helps “Life Remodeled,” Pro Bono, With Cody-Rouge Project
As we did last year, we spent all last week (August 11-17) in Detroit—specifically in the “Cody-Rouge” area—to help, pro bono, the non-profit “Life Remodeled” with executing their planned “makeover” of Cody High School and the surrounding neighborhood. We were responsible for some of the media relations, the design and production of promotional materials, signage, banners, t-shirt graphics, social media channel headers, the posting TV and radio media coverage, and capturing the project photographically. Most of the graphic work was done before the ‘build week’, and most of the the photography was done during the week-long ‘campaign’ (we will do some photography of the “tour” that will be given after the build week, to show the completion of the new ‘special’ rooms and overall ‘clean-up’ of Cody High School).
Life Remodeled’s goals were to build four “special” rooms at Cody High School, renovate 20 student houses (new roofs, new siding, replacing windows and stairs, etc.), board up 100 vacant houses, and “beautify” 100 city blocks (remove blight, trim trees, cut grass, plant flowers, etc.)—all in SIX DAYS! On the seventh day, Sunday, August 17, 2014, at their celebration, they noted that they exceeded all of their goals: More ‘renovations’ were done inside Cody than planned; they remodeled 25 student houses; boarded up 254 vacant houses; demolished three dangerous houses; and beautified 303 city blocks! This was an unbelievable effort performed by over 10,500 volunteers—the largest volunteer effort in recent Detroit history.
The following are selected photos that represent the over 6,000 photos we and our photographers took to capture all of the activities during the ‘build week’:
CODY HIGH SCHOOL – ENTRANCE (Before/After)
NEW “S.T.E.M.” ROOM AT CODY
NEW MOCK COURTROOM IN CODY
NEW MEDICAL LAB IN CODY
NEW HOME EC ROOM IN CODY
NEW TEACHERS LOUNGE IN CODY
NEW SMART PROJECTORS AT CODY
NEW GARDEN AT CODY
WINDOW REPAIRS AT CODY
ROOF REPAIRS AT CODY
NEW FOOTBALL FIELD AT CODY
THREE DANGEROUS HOUSES DEMOLISHED ACROSS FROM CODY
GRAFFITI REMOVED FROM BUILDINGS AROUND CODY
25 STUDENT HOUSES REMODELED
254 ‘BOARD UPS’ OF VACANT HOUSES
NEW MURAL AT HENDERSON MIDDLE SCHOOL
‘CLEAN UP’ AT HENDERSON MIDDLE SCHOOL
MANN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ‘BEAUTIFIED’
NEW MURAL IN STEIN PLAYGROUND
303 CITY BLOCKS OF ‘BLIGHT’ REMOVED
In addition to coordinating over a dozen professional photographers to capture the ‘build week’, we designed and produced a variety of promotional materials, signage, banners, t-shirt graphics, social media channel headers, and Powerpoint presentations:
The following links are for more information about the Cody-Rouge project in Detroit, Michigan:
PHOTOS
VIDEOS (Day Recaps)
MEDIA COVERAGE
FACEBOOK PAGE
TWITTER FEED
If you are also interested in more information, or supporting, this great non-profit, contact Mark Besh at Visual Impact Systems (248-548-7000), or click the link below to be taken to Life Remodeled’s website.