From ethical tech entrepreneurs to green infrastructure and climate resiliency — our journalists will be keeping their fingers on the pulse of Metro Detroit in 2022. Here's what they'll be watching. 

Transit in Metro Detroit costs low-income people of color disproportionately more in terms of costs, travel time, and access to their jobs or job opportunities. COVID has made it worse, but these are longstanding problems— and proposed responses would require political will to implement them.  

Doris Howard once felt she could protect the people in her care. Over a year and a half into the COVID-19 pandemic, she isn’t sure if she can protect herself. With some direct care workers risking infection for an average annual salary only $4,000 more than a fast-food worker, it's no wonder many are leaving the industry.

“The economic impact from this effort cannot be overlooked, as we help our hardware clients grow we are also sending significant business to the local supply chain that is directly helping with their design, engineering, prototyping, testing and manufacturing,” says Dan Radomski, executive director of the Centrepolis Accelerator.

"Especially during the pandemic, children need a way to get those big emotions out. They’ve been affected just as adults have," says Laura Scales, executive director at Living Arts. "The arts can heal and transform. I want to give youth a way to dance it out, sing it out, draw it out and write it out."  

"This pandemic is both a blessing and a curse. I say this because it shines a light on how greatly some people in urban communities struggle," says Kenyetta Campbell, founder and executive director of Cody Rouge Community Action Alliance. "I think it's caused people who haven’t gone through the same COVID-19 challenges to be more sensitive toward those who lack resources, who’ve lost jobs, who are struggling to educate their kids or don’t know where they're getting their next meal. I'm hoping that, as a society, we can continue to address the many challenges people in this world face."