People Mover Receives Community Partnership Award from YMCA

Detroit People Mover Receives Community Partnership Award fROM Metropolitan Detroit YMCA

DETROIT (May 1, 2008) – Every year, the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit – which operates 17 facilities in a four-county area – acknowledges leaders in the community, “for extraordinary efforts in bringing together individuals and communities for a stronger southeast Michigan.” During their recent 155^th Annual Meeting, the members of the YMCA honored not an individual, but the Detroit People Mover.

Detroit Transportation Corporation (DTC) General Manager Barbara Hansen accepted the John Copeland Community and Civility Award in front of several hundred guests at the Atheneum Suite Hotel Ballroom on April 24. The accolade was presented by the award’s namesake.

“This year, the award will be presented to an organization that has been crucial to the renewal in the heart of our City,” said Copeland, who has served the YMCA in various local and national capacities for more than 40 years. “The John Copeland Community and Civility Award is a recognition of those in our community who work for a greater good…who have helped build our community over years of service.  It is an honor that has been bestowed upon many important leaders in our community such as Judge Damon Keith.  I am pleased to honor the Detroit People Mover for their tremendous efforts to rebuild and re-energize our city.”

The Detroit People Mover has succeeded in developing new and lasting partnerships with local agencies that enhance the environment through economic, aesthetic or educational activities. The relationship with the Metro Detroit YMCA has always been positive, dating back to 2005. The Boll Family YMCA was the first new Y built in Detroit in recent years and the location of the Boll Family YMCA at Broadway and John R. was selected, in part, by its proximity to the People Mover.