Why we're building Ribbonfield

Ask a five-year-old what a firefighter does and you'll get a confident answer. Ask who decided the library would go on that corner, and you'll usually get a shrug.

That gap is why we're building Ribbonfield.

A neighborhood, not a lecture

Ribbonfield is a neighborhood on a river, with an old factory, a main street, a library and a corner store. In every story, someone in the neighborhood speaks up for something that isn't there yet: a bench, a safer corner, a room for a grandmother moving in. A team of kids goes and looks, runs into a real problem, makes a trade, and opens the finished place to the people who asked for it.

The trade matters. Real buildings involve choices. The bench faces the playground, so it doesn't face the sunset. Kids understand that better than adults expect.

Why the name

Ribbonfield is named for the ribbon farms of early Detroit: long, narrow plots that each reached the river, so every family shared the water. It's a good place to start a story about who gets a say in a neighborhood. And every time the crew finishes something, the neighbors cut a ribbon together.

The neighborhood remembers

What gets built in one book is still standing in the next. Over time, kids watch Ribbonfield change, and start to notice that their own street is the result of decisions people made.

Why me

I've spent fourteen years as an interior designer in Detroit, working on affordable housing, adaptive reuse and civic projects. I've sat in the meetings where those decisions get made. I want more kids, especially girls and kids from neighborhoods like the ones I work in, to know those seats exist and that they can sit in them.

Our first coloring and activity books are on the way. Sign up for our email list to get the free activity pack first.

— Danielle