Jena Brooker

1 week ago | bridgedetroit.com | Jena Brooker

Fun Fact: The city’s first “”, located in the North End, will have a grand opening Saturday. Hey, it’s JB! I was sipping on cold brew at one of my regular coffee spots the other day when I overheard that the owners of the former Chung’s restaurant in Detroit’s Cass Corridor are still looking for tenants. The building housed the famous Chung’s Cantonese Cuisine before it closed in 2000. The property sat vacant and became dilapidated before the current owners bought it in 2023 and began renovations.

1 week ago | bridgedetroit.com | Jena Brooker

Owners of the former Chung’s building on Peterboro are still looking for tenants after completing renovations on the building this spring. For decades, Chung’s Cantonese Cuisine at 3175 Cass Ave was a staple in Detroit’s historic Chinatown before closing in 2000, and has sat vacant since. American Community Developers purchased the deteriorating building in 2023 with the goal of housing Asian restaurants in the three-unit building, in a nod to its history.

2 weeks ago | bridgedetroit.com | Jena Brooker

FUN FACTS: Michigan has approximately nine edible varieties of mushrooms. Hey, it’s JB! In just a few weeks, applications will open for the Detroit Black Farmer Land Fund, whose mission is to “rebuild inter-generational land ownership for Black Farmers in Detroit.” Founded by the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, Oakland Avenue Urban Farm and Keep Growing Detroit in2020, the fund has been providing financial and technical help to Black Detroit farmers to purchase land.

3 weeks ago | bridgedetroit.com | Jena Brooker

A parking lot-turned-garden in Southwest Detroit is growing several tons of free produce each year for residents in a neighborhood with some of the highest rates of food insecurity in the city.  And the May addition of a new greenhouse and electricity at the lot at 4601 Merritt St. will allow the garden to grow to new heights and serve more neighbors.

3 weeks ago | bridgedetroit.com | Jena Brooker

FUN FACT: Michigan ranks sixth in the nation for wine production. Hey, it’s JB!A few weeks ago I had the distinct pleasure of presenting on environment and media at Yale University’s New Horizons Conservation Conference, focused on diversity, equity and inclusion within the conservation field and assessing critical gaps. On the shuttle from the airport to campus, I was surprised to see a fellow Detroiter – Dolores Perales, co-executive director of Cadillac Urban Gardens.