The Detroit People’s Food Co-op is seeking more residents to buy into the neighborhood grocery store.

The co-op is running out of money. They launched a campaign looking for 500 new owners and are asking customers to spend $10 when they come in.

The co-op opened in 2024 to fill a gap. The city had almost no Black owned grocery stores. The goal was for Detroiters to own their food system, not just to shop within it.

However, the people who this store was built for may not be able to afford it. The U.S. Census Bureau reports 34% of Detroiters liven in poverty. The co-op says it is bringing in close to $3 million a year. Before it opened, It projected about $80,000 a week— which is more than $4 million.  

Additional Headlines for Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026

Mayor Mary Sheffield makes effort to ensure a full Count Day

Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield is partnering with school districts to make sure students are in their seats for Count Day. The city has launched a series of radio, newspaper, and social media ads. 

Fall count day is used to measure the in-school attendance of students—that number dictates how much money the school district receives from the state.  

Sheffield says she wants families, parents and students in the city to understand the importance of showing up for Count Day.  

“We oftentimes talk about schools being underfunded or Detroit kids not getting the quality education that they deserve. One way that we can control that is by making sure our kids are in school, that they’re accounted for, and that we get the funding that is allocated to us for books, for teachers, for facility improvements.”

This year’s Count Day is on Wednesday, Oct. 7.  

First of its kind Jim Crow museum to open at Ferris State University

Ferris State University will now feature more than 30,000 artifacts from the Jim Crow era in its new museum space.  

David Pilgrim founded the museum. He says the new building expands what can be taught about that period in American history.  

“In our old space, we did have room to show how African Americans pushed back against oppression with activism, with achievements and quite frankly, with just living everyday lives of dignity.”

The new building also includes a reading room, seminar space, and recording studio for visitors who want to share their own Jim Crow stories and how it affects them.  

Intergenerational Wisdom Exchange Program (WiSE) bridges generational divide at Wayne State Univeristy

A new 10-week program is pairing older Black adults from Detroit with Wayne State University students to improve social connection and digital literacy. 

Dr. Rodlescia Sneed, WiSE’s program director and an assistant professor in Wayne State’s Institute of Gerontology and Department of Psychology, says social connections are important for health and well-being. Many need technology to maintain a social connection. 

“It was our goal to increase social connection and reduce loneliness among older adults, while also improving their technology skills, so that we could make improvements that impact their health and well-being.”

Sneed says the program focuses on developing one-on-one connections to reduce barriers for older adults to learn digital literacy. 

The first half of the program is focusing on sharing life stories of Detroiters. The second half of the program is learning digital literacy. 

For more information on the program, you can contact Sneed at sneedrod@wayne.edu.

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