Detroit Institute of Technology at Cody gets a makeover

click to enlarge Volunteers from Dearborn and Detroit high schools renovate Cody High School's Detroit Institute of Technology. - photo credit: National Network for Arab American Communities
photo credit: National Network for Arab American Communities
Volunteers from Dearborn and Detroit high schools renovate Cody High School's Detroit Institute of Technology.

400 volunteers from eight Dearborn and Detroit high schools performed a major renovation of Cody High School's Detroit Institute of Technology for National Arab American Service Day on May 14.  

National Arab American Service day is a project of the National Network of Arab American Communities, a national alliance of 25 independent Arab American community-based organizations that develop Arab American nonprofit organizations.

The DIT was in need of a little TLC. Ceiling tiles were falling and striking students, bathroom stalls were missing doors, and the building's exterior and surrounding grounds needed a new look.

click to enlarge Detroit Institute of Technology bathroom stalls without doors before renovation. - photo credit: National Network of Arab American Communities
photo credit: National Network of Arab American Communities
Detroit Institute of Technology bathroom stalls without doors before renovation.

click to enlarge Ceiling in the Detroit Institute of Technology with missing tiles before renovation. - photo credit: National Network of Arab Communities
photo credit: National Network of Arab Communities
Ceiling in the Detroit Institute of Technology with missing tiles before renovation.
The Greening of Detroit, an organization whose mission is to create beautiful and green spaces to enhance the quality of life for Detroiters through community engagement education and jobs, partnered with the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services, the largest Arab American nonprofit in the U.S., to renovate DIT and Stein Park.

Volunteers installed new drop ceilings in classrooms, planted community and butterfly gardens, painted outdoor courts, cleaned up debris, cleaned abandoned lots and built new walking paths. 

For more information about the National Arab American Service Day click here and to learn more about the National Network for Arab American Communities visit nnaac.org 

click to enlarge Detroit Institute of Technology at Cody gets a makeover
Photo credit: National Network for Arab American Communities
click to enlarge Volunteers plant flowers for community garden. - photo credit: National Network for Arab American Communities
photo credit: National Network for Arab American Communities
Volunteers plant flowers for community garden.