News from Highland Park Community Crisis Coalition

July 6th, 2020

Contact:

Jackson Koeppel, (917) 554-3741, [email protected]

Carlton Clyburn, (313) 282-4542, [email protected]

Margaret Lewis, (313) 231-2249, [email protected]

Highland Park Launches COVID-19 Just Recovery Task Force

Community, City Council come together to address the crisis

HIGHLAND PARK, MI – Today, Highland Park City Council approved  a resolution to form one of, if not the, first COVID-19 Just Recovery Task Force in the country.

The JRTF is a joint task force between the City Council and the Highland Park Community Crisis Coalition. It will coordinate relief efforts and community safety measures while developing a long-term Just Recovery Plan from the COVID-19 crisis.

“Highland Parkers are resilient,” said Carlton Clyburn, City Council President of Highland Park. “This task force is about the community coming together to get through this crisis, but also to look forward.”

Highland Park is a majority Black, low-income, and senior community that has experienced severe economic and health impacts from COVID-19. Just Recovery aims to move from crisis to justice, building resilience through a crisis response that acknowledges racial and economic disparities in impact. The Highland Park Community Crisis Coalition, which formed in response to the pandemic, has been organizing around immediate impacts of the crisis and thinking proactively about the recovery process.

“We’re building solutions on the frontlines of this struggle,” said Juan Shannon, Principal at Parker Village and founding member of the Highland Park Community Crisis Coalition. “This task force is a necessary step to prepare for future waves of the pandemic and other crises. But it’s also an opportunity for us to think about building long-term sustainability and resilience by supporting Highland Park-led initiatives for sustainable development and sustainable infrastructure.”

Over a dozen Highland Park residents gave input on the vision for the task force, including members of Citizens For a Sustainable Highland Park, which collected over 700 signatures last year to place a sustainability commission on the ballot. Citizens For A Sustainable Highland Park decided to focus efforts on a task force when the COVID-19 pandemic emerged.

“This task force is a step forward,” said Margaret Lewis, Designated Record Keeper for Citizens For A Sustainable Highland Park. “We hope to see more of the City trusting and supporting community-led solutions as we recover from this crisis.”

Watch tonight’s council meeting at https://www.highlandparkmi.gov/Latest-News/Virtual-Council-Meeting.aspx

Agenda can be found at https://www.highlandparkmi.gov/Reference/Agendas-and-Minutes/City-Council/2020.aspx

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To learn more about Highland Park Community Crisis Coalition, please visit https://www.hpcrisiscoalition.org/, follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/517372019141984/