DHDC’s Programs
Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation works in two critical areas: individual-level change and community/systems-level change. Our programs are designed to increase resident capacity as agents of change and self-determination in their own families, schools, and communities, which is fundamental to the development of community self-determination and transformation.
We focus on community engagement at the personal, social, educational, and economic levels, working to build self-determination, self-confidence, personal skills, relationships among and between neighborhoods and institutions; a sense of power over personal and neighborhood life; and access to and control of resources.
![Covid Relief Fund banner graphic on the DHDC Programs page](/app/uploads/2022/06/covid-relief-fund.png)
We have also incorporated healing-centered engagement as opposed to trauma-informed practice. A healing-centered approach is holistic involving culture, spirituality, civic action, and collective healing. A healing-centered approach views trauma not simply as an individual isolated experience, but rather highlights the ways in which trauma and healing are experienced collectively. The term healing-centered engagement expands how we think about responses to trauma and offers a more holistic approach to fostering well-being. HCE is strength-based, advances a collective view of healing, and re-centers culture as a central feature in well-being. DHDC has a broad range of integrated services in other departments that create a continuum of care and a pathway to self-determination. These include:
Youth programs (after-school and summer)
Serving 400 youth/year ages 5 to 24, including STEAM programs, robotics, youth development, trauma and healing, music and video production, summer youth employment, tutoring, career exploration, transportation, and food. We have also launched a dual-enrollment program for HS students who will receive credit from their home school as well as Michigan Tech University in Computer Programming.
![Youth Programs with three teens on desktop computers](/app/uploads/2022/06/youth-programs.jpg)
Adult, CVI & Family
Services include adult education, housing counseling, tattoo removal, re-entry services, parenting, early childhood development, and informal childcare providers support.
![A group of volunteers taking a photo at a rally](/app/uploads/2022/06/diaper-drive.jpg)
Community Organizing and Advocacy
Support with issues such as immigration, education, environmental justice, and equitable development. This also includes providing technical and small re-grants to other Latino-led organizations, working collectively across the state of Michigan.
![Community Organizing during one of the DHDC's annual events](/app/uploads/2022/06/community-organizing-scaled.jpg)