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Keeping Money Working Within The Community Is The Goal

DETROIT (WWJ) - Keeping the money circulating in the community . . . that's part of a goal at one new development property in Detroit.

At the Gardenview Estates, formerly the Herman Gardens site, a senior citizen resident is getting a hair cut from Paul Johnson, Jr., a barber who has signed up to be part of Spending With Purpose.

Gardenview barber
Paul Johnson, Jr. giving a haircut. (WWJ/Stephanie Davis)

"So far it's dynamic - I've only been here 10 minutes and I've got ... so much support already I can tell that I've got a customer base that I'm building - in these five gentleman that I've been cutting," Johnson tells WWJ's Stephanie Davis.

"Spending with Purpose is an initiative through Premier Property Management in partnership with the nonprofit Communities of Hope, to provide its residents with on site access to necessary services with a portion of monies paid for the services being returned to the community.

Kino Smith, Premier program director and SWP developer, says the initiative's aim is to provide for residents' practical and financial needs. "When you buy your groceries, you make sure no one in your community goes hungry. When you get your taxes done, you fund youth programs," said Smith, describing how SWP works in a release."

For profit businesses operate on Premier properties, employing residents and pledging 10 percent of all sales back to programs offered through Communities of Hope.

As a part of the program residents are encouraged to spend their dollars at businesses that have agreed to donate a portion of their profits to go towards providing resources and services to Gardenview residents.

"We wanted to do something to re-circulate the dollars back through our

Gardenview Onsite
Olumide Olafioyue. (WWJ/Stephanie Davis)

communities but also begin to leverage our social capital so that we can start our own community, our own businesses and cooperatives," said Smith.

"We do require reporting and we do memorandums of understanding -- it's still a bit on good faith  ... and we see the businesses have really been accountable because they want access to our communities; they don't want to lose that pipeline," said Smith.

Ten businesses have signed up to be part of the program Spending with Purpose.

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