There are certain terms and phrases you hear a lot when talking community and economic development: Placemaking. Sense of place. Quality of life. They are concepts that are distinct from one another yet intrinsically linked, where an investment in one begets the next. Looking to better represent a neighborhood’s character to residents and visitors alike? Popular placemaking tactics like public art and wayfinding signage help give a community its sense of place, an introduction of ourselves to each other and our community to others outside of it. An improved sense of place can provide a stronger connective tissue within a community, enhancing quality of life factors like public safety and social connectedness. And when those and other quality of life factors improve, so too does the overall well-being of the community itself.
One such program was announced in Hazel Park in 2024, where an Oakland County mini-grant has helped support a three-year pilot program that provides free chore services to low-income seniors. By offering snow removal in the winter and lawn maintenance in the summer, the Oakland County Senior Chore pilot program allows Hazel Park senior residents to age in place – and even if they’re not up to the physically arduous tasks of shoveling snow and cutting the grass. It’s the type of quality of life program that can provide big impact on a seemingly smaller scale, simultaneously working to address the needs of our more elderly neighbors while making our sidewalks safer and neighborhoods more beautiful for the community at large.
“Most of our seniors want to age in place. If they've been living in a home for 20, 30, or 50 years, they want to continue living there for as long as they can and have some level of independence,” says Ann Erickson Gault, an Oakland County Commissioner representing the District 3 communities of Hazel Park, Madison Heights, and Troy
“This program allows them to do that by taking care of some of the things that they're no longer able to do.”
Much of what Hazel Park offers its senior population can be found at the
Community Center on Woodward Heights, where
tailored events and programming are often held throughout the week and where lunch is served each Monday through Thursday for a recommended donation of $3.50. A modernization project will soon help reinvigorate the community center, which also serves the general public in addition to its senior population. While providing a more comfortable setting for community events, the project will also result in a new satellite office for
Oakland County Parks as they look to develop a new OCP South Office on-site.
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Source: 2025-2029 Hazel Park 5-Year Parks & Recreation PlanA rendering of the Hazel Park Community Center modernization project.
The modernization project, along with a new accessible playground installed at the adjacent Green Acres Park in April 2024, were made possible by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021.
Those projects aren't the only ones.
“The funding for this (Senior Chore) program came from the American Rescue Plan support that the county received,” says Erickson Gault. “It was one of dozens of programs the county was able to do because of ARPA dollars.”
A future investment
There’s no shortage of progress being made on the opposite end of the age spectrum here, where a bevy of programs and initiatives work to not only improve the current quality of life standards for its young people, but the quality of their future lives, too.
Partnerships with organizations like
Winning Futures matches volunteer career mentors with high school students as they decide what steps to take after graduation. The Ballmer Group recently awarded Hazel Park Schools a grant to “assist Hazel Park Schools in expanding its successful Community School model across the district to tackle educational, social, and health disparities,” as
a January update from the Washington-based organization recently announced. And a partnership between the city and school district resulted in the launch of the
Junior Vikings program in 2023, which offers a municipal organized youth sports program for elementary school students whose only other options would be through for-profit organizations and leagues.
While the list of programs and initiatives for Hazel Park students ebbs and flows from year to year, a promise made in 2012 continues to bear fruit. That was on full display the evening of Monday, Feb. 24, at the Gazebo Banquet Center in neighboring Warren. It was there where tomorrow begins for Hazel Park’s next generation as guests gathered for the 12th annual fundraising dinner for the
Hazel Park Promise Zone. A member of the Promise Zone since 2012, Hazel Park is one of only 14 Michigan school districts to participate in the statewide program.
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File photo: Nina IgnaczakMike McFall in Hazel Park in 2019.
“The Hazel Park Promise Zone plays a vital role in opening doors to higher education by helping break down financial barriers and providing the tools students need to succeed,” says Mike McFall, state Representative for Michigan’s 14th district. A resident of Hazel Park himself, McFall began his political career in the city, having been elected to city council in 2019 before leaving for the Michigan House of Representatives in 2023.
Their participation provides students guaranteed access to opportunities that few school districts provide, fulfilling their promise that all resident graduates of Hazel Park Schools have access to a tuition-free path to an Associate’s degree from any accredited trade school, community college, college, or university in the state. The program also provides one-on-one assistance to students as they navigate financial aid applications by way of FAFSA, coaching and mentoring support, preparation for standardized tests like the SAT, and more.
“I had a great time supporting them at their annual fundraising dinner, and it was amazing to see so many people come together to invest in our kid's futures,” says McFall. “Investing in our students is investing in the future of our state, and I'm proud to support the Promise Zone and their mission.”