LIFF Project Lights Up River Rouge Neighborhoods

A new innovative project has emerged on the sidewalks and in the parks of River Rouge in the form of LIFF Zones. LIFF stands for Lumination Is Family Fun and City Commissioner Patty Campbell says the idea for the project stemmed from childhood and the memories of playtime.

The definition of lumination is "the emission of light." Campbell says city leaders met with members of the public safety department, the schools, and residents to create a project that would be of some benefit and use to everyone. "Everybody needed one thing in particular: a central, lit-up place, mentally and physically, that people could go to," she says. "We talked about something everybody had in common-and that was childhood. If you could talk to any adult who has at least one good memory, it's always in family, in childhood." She says for most, recalling childhood evokes memories of play, and most can recall either seeing or playing Hopscotch. The creative idea of lighting up a Hopscotch game with luminous paint emerged as a possible project for the city's sidewalks and parks.

Funding for the LIFF Zone Project was covered by a grant through the Ralph C. Wilson Foundation's Built to Play Initiative. Through this initiative, the foundation partnered with Kaboom!, a national non-profit that works to achieve playspace equity. In 2019, the city received its share of $1 million in grant funding through the Play Everywhere Design Challenge. In all, 22 projects in locations in Michigan and New York received a share of the grant. "The creative projects that make up this round of the Play Everywhere Challenge are remarkable," said Jim Boyle, vice president of programs & communications, Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation. "We're proud that this program helps provide kids and families with more high-quality options for the active play necessary to develop and thrive."

In River Rouge, Campbell and her team began seeking out locations within the city's neighborhoods and playgrounds to paint the luminous Hopscotch games and other fun images. There are 20 lumination areas, all painted over this past summer with the assistance of River Rouge resident Carlton English, a painter, who the city had enlisted to oversee the project.

River Rouge's Director of Public Safety Roberto Cruz says the illuminated sidewalk paintings are spurring conversations between residents and his officers as well as serving as a designated "safe place" in the event of an emergency. "As they (officers) patrol and are driving down the street, if they see a group of young kids they can inquire of them, 'Do you know what the whole concept of the Hopscotch is there for?' If they don't, they can enlighten them and say if there's a family emergency you can come here because this is where we'll pull up and look at the Hopscotch area," he says. "Communication is everything between the police officer and the residents, the young kids."

Tarence Wheeler, Director of Corporate and Community Affairs with the River Rouge School District agrees. He says, "Most of our children are from this community and walk these blocks and all our kids need to be in safe spaces, they need to feel safe. If a kid knows he can go to this particular zone and feel safe and get some assistance, they're more apt to do that. It also builds a better rapport with law enforcement which gives more opportunities for more engagement down the road. It's about engagement, opportunities, and access for our young people." Wheeler adds that a community as a whole is made stronger when beautification efforts engage residents with one another and helps them to feel safe.

"We all came together with the basic need, that we as a community were not a separate entity, that our community only lifted and moved when we worked together," says Campbell. "Whenever people see that they are a part of the whole, they want to be a part; it's when they don't feel they're part of the whole that they don't support it."

So get out and walk the neighborhoods of River Rouge and look for those LIFF Zone signs. They will indicate you are in a "safe space" and that someone is likely watching to make sure you are okay.