What is Regent Park?
Decades ago, Regent Park was a thriving, working-class neighborhood in Northeast Detroit.
In its prime, it was home to many of Detroit’s firefighters, police officers, teachers and other public servants. Regent Park is a 97-block neighborhood comprised of over 3,000 homes filled with families. It once boasted two public schools that brought education and opportunity to the neighborhood’s youth & thriving churches & parks.
By 2003, REGENT PARK HAd became known for its poverty and hopelessness.
Decades of disinvestment had plagued the community. The quality of educational alternatives, availability of safe, affordable housing, and even access to healthy food choices and good jobs had diminished along with public safety. The real estate crisis added to the challenges Regent Park was facing and then the corporate bankruptcies and the City of Detroit bankruptcy along with the political corruption brought a lack of public services, foreclosures, school closures, and gang activity.
Over 20% of those homes had been abandoned or occupied by squatters and often drug dealers. It was a sad situation. The greater 48205 zip code which includes Regent Park has been recognized as Detroit’s deadliest zip code. The two public schools were boarded up and the high school graduation rate was less than 40%. Despite this decaying environment, the neighborhood was full of children. However, hope and opportunity had faded. Blinds were closed, people stayed in or near their homes.
Into this environment LifeBUILDERS emerged to let people know that they are not forgotten, that God cares and there is hope. There was more than enough work to be overwhelmed by, but, in the words of Jesus as He looked upon the city of Jerusalem:
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matthew 9:36-38
And as Edward Hale once said “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.” The founders decided that they along with a bunch of like-minded people were going to jump in and right a wrong, bring justice, advocate for the poor, needy, and oppressed. And that they did.
Here’s what happened. Once abandoned neighborhood assets have been returned to productive use, including an abandoned park and a former elementary school. Blight has been drastically reduced and over 75 residential and commercial properties have been restored. Kids attend weekly programs, summer day camps, have jobs, community events occur in a repurposed park, seniors are cared for, there’s a new standard for rental properties and houses are selling briskly. In many, many tangible ways God has shown how much He cares by sending people to show their love and compassion and restoring dignity and hope. There’s even a growing number of children attending a Christian school thanks to scholarships provided by supporters. LifeBUILDERS has become a stabilizing factor and source of hope in what was once a dismal situation. LifeBUILDERS has shown its adaptability in helping individuals through times of crisis by showing Christ’s love.
Today, LifeBUILDERS has become widely associated with Regent Park. As one friend of the ministry said recently “How can anyone speak of Regent Park without speaking about LifeBUILDERS?” When you think of LifeBUILDERS, you can’t think of anything but the fact that God chose a bunch of willing people, people who said yes, provided the resources, and set up His Kingdom in the community. Each person who has served here would willingly admit that their life is much richer because they said yes. When the final chapter is written and the community is whole once more, we believe that all of this will demonstrate the extent that God will go to relieve oppression and injustice and show His great love. We believe that we will realize that what He was doing was about what He wanted to do in all of us. To God be the glory.