Nonprofit's blight clean-up is lowering crime around Detroit

DETROIT (FOX 2) - A nonprofit's work to clean up Detroit is paying dividends for both the community and the volunteers. 

Tiffany Davis, an employee at Amazon Web Services, was volunteering Monday. She grew up only five minutes from the street she was cleaning up.

"When I saw this opportunity to be able to volunteer, give back, and clean up the blight, I felt like I was giving back twice," she said. "One for Amazon, and two for the Detroit city and my neighborhood that I love."

The project was put on by Life Remodeled, which connects companies to volunteer work that's needed around the city.

"We developed a model that is proven to work. We do neighborhood revitalization that lasts," said Chris Lambert the agency's CEO. 

The blight removal does more than just instill a feeling of doing good. According to Lambert, wherever Life Remodeled does work, a drop in crime follows.

"Proven by the city of Detroit Police Department to reduce crime, they’ve shown us statistics after our projects and in fact, one year crime reduced in 10 out of 11 categories, including a 47% reduction in homicides," he said.

On Monday, workers were on the city's west side near the former Cooley High School. They'll be there the entire week landscaping, collecting garbage, and cleaning up refuse that's littering the neighborhood. 

It's the second year that Amazon has participated in the work.

"Amazon's focused on not only being a great employer, but a great neighbor," said Ian Conyers, head of community engagement at Amazon. "There’s 30,000 Amazonians across our state, but so many call Detroit home."