The Motor City Grounds Crew in Detroit works to strengthen Detroit neighborhoods by beautifying green spaces and organizing youth sports activities and community tool libraries. The organization started in 2010 with an initial $5 million contribution from Southfield’s Lear Corp. for park renovations. In 2011, Lear provided funds to Motor City Grounds Crew to maintain three of its parks. From 2013-2018, Motor City Grounds Crew was the only organization to have adopted five or more parks through the mayor’s Adopt a Park program. The organization expanded to include youth sports and sports equipment sharing in 2018 and tool libraries in 2019. The tool lending allows residents to borrow tools for free to use for home and yard improvement projects as well as for nonprofit service projects. Tool, safety, and maintenance training are also available, as well as home and yard repair classes and workforce development workshops. While the group maintains the East Warren Tool Library, it also offers mobile tool library popups for residents who can’t transport tools on their own.
