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Military veterans converge on Detroit for service projects

By COREY WILLIAMS

(DETROIT, AP) — A few dozen U.S. military veterans and reservists are heading to Detroit in a mass deployment to perform service projects at city parks and schools.

They are part of The Mission Continues, a St. Louis-based nonprofit that connects veterans with volunteer work to ease the post-military transition. They will begin arriving this week from around the country and remain through June 29.

Last summer, thousands of youth participated in service projects in Detroit as part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Youth Gathering.

“There are lots of challenges in a lot of cities,” said Laura L’Esperance, a senior vice president in communications with The Mission Continues. “In Detroit, there seems to be an energy and an attitude. It feels like a city where people are willing to come together and get things done.”

The city exited the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history in December 2014 and appears to be slowing a decades-long exodus of residents that has dropped Detroit’s population to about 680,000 from 1.8 million in the 1950s.

Population declines and job losses have left the city with tens of thousands of vacant houses. A massive blight removal program has demolished many empty structures, but many neighborhoods remain in desperate need of improvements.

Work over the next week by The Mission Continues veterans will include converting a classroom into an art gallery at Central Collegiate Academy, repainting common areas and creating an urban garden. They also will beautify parks in the east side Osborn neighborhood, improve a playground at an elementary school and clean vacant lots.

“I just want to go and see what kind of difference we can make,” said former marine Edwin Vasco, 32, of Miami. “I just want to meet some good people, make some positive interactions. The change just doesn’t happen with the project we do. It comes with the people we meet.”

Many of the veterans involved in The Mission Continues built schools and roads while deployed overseas in countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq.

“They have some real skills that can be applied to some of these challenges,” L’Esperance said. “They’ve been through enough and they’re trained for it. They see this great American city and here’s this chance to make sure it doesn’t fail.”

Vasco said he served in Iraq in 2005.

“I used to do artillery in the Marine Corps,” he said. “Now, I’m able to build, give back. It’s kind of like healing to the soul for me. If you’re doing positive things in the community, it makes it a little better.”

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