Each year, the group holds weekly programs with over 200 students volunteering as tutors and mentors in schools, churches, and non-profits in the Brightmoor, East Side, and Southwest neighborhoods of Detroit.

In the fall, The Detroit Partnership partners with community members to bring a large food and clothing drive titled One-Stop Shop to the citizens of Brightmoor and surrounding areas.

Also, every March or April, the group routinely brings approximately 1300 student volunteers from the University of Michigan to sites in and around the city of Detroit for a one-day service-learning event known as DP Day.

[1] The initial idea for The Detroit Project is credited to Katie Foley, who was at the time a junior at the University of Michigan and the President of Circle K, an organization on campus dedicated to service, friendship and leadership.

The organization began its work in the Brightmoor neighborhood of northwest Detroit, an area known both for its strong community network and largely impoverished conditions.

[2] Thus, the first DP Day, held on April 8, 2000, saw over 400 UM volunteers work at 32 different sites in Brightmoor planting trees and grass seed, cleaning parks, and demolishing abandoned homes, among other projects.

In time for the 2000-2001 academic year, The then-Detroit Project retained Katie Foley as a returning Senior, and recruited a leadership team capable of growing the organization.

This, The DP's second large-scale event, entails the collection of food and clothing in both Ann Arbor and Detroit, extensive effort at organization and sorting of the donated goods, and, finally, the set-up of a department store "atmosphere" in the basement of WODUMC.

The DP has built strong partnerships with a number of community organizations and schools in this united and culturally vibrant neighborhood.

Thus, on February 20, 2008, The Detroit Project officially changed its name to The Detroit Partnership to better reflect the organization's movement from an organization concentrated on one-sided service events (such as DP Day, where volunteers went en masse to work on projects to which they have never returned) to the development of programs and service learning through more intimate, and longer-lasting community partnerships (i.e. weekly programs).

Ultimately, from the perspective of a student volunteer, this focus encouraged education and self-reflection throughout continual commitment (see Service Learning Ideology below).

This represented an additional shift in the organization's philosophy and kept in line with The DP's recent renaissance attitude, especially with the official adoption of a social justice theme.

As a student-run, registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, we strive to raise awareness, challenge stereotypes, and promote social justice through our service-learning programs and educational events.