Some folks see their hometown for what it is. Meet someone who sees hers for what it could be.
The Detroit, Michigan suburb of Highland Park has all the makings of a ghost town. This was the library. This was the high school. Much of the town just plain “was.”
Fortunately, one man’s wasteland is another woman’s blank slate.
“I just felt that it was a space to build and do things on,” resident Shamayim Harris told CBS News. “I don’t have anything in urban planning except for sitting on this porch conjuring up what I want to do on this block, that’s it.”
The one-time school administrator is now architect of the most unlikely redevelopment project in Michigan.
“Look at all this space,” she said. “We can do anything we want.”
A few years ago she set up a nonprofit, got donations and started reversing the decline on her block. Most of the workers are volunteers.
“She embraces everyone. She tries to uplift everyone,” one member of her army said.