OUR MISSION
To reinvigorate neighborhood infrastructures in the city of Detroit impacted by economic and social turmoil of the last 5 decades.
Goals
01. community support
Engage the needs and desires of developing Detroit neighborhoods (e.g. neighborhood gardens, parks, and social events).
02. INDIVIDUAL EMPOWERMENT
Identify and provide tools to allow individuals the opportunity to improve their economic circumstances (e.g. free financial counseling, clothes assistance, and property assistance).
03. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Help create new business & housing development opportunities within various communities, beginning with the McDougall Farms Project.
“To make our future better, we must learn from our collective past and act upon it now.”
Leadership
Detroit Future Trends is the vision of educator and community leader Chico F. Sorrell, a lifetime Detroiter. Sorrell and his family are dedicated to the City of Detroit and its burgeoning growth, and have enlisted neighbors & fellow Detroiters, both current and former, to launch Detroit Future Trends. He has also tapped various business experts throughout the country to assist with laying the groundwork for Detroit's revitalization. Sorrell grew up in the Downtown Detroit area, and that's where his first focus will be: reviving the McDougall-Hunt, Black Bottom and Paradise Valley neighborhoods with the Trendsetter Pointe project.
A graduate of Detroit Public School, Sorrell received his Bachelor of Arts in Communication/Business Finance from Howard University in Washington DC and Master's in Administration Education from the University of Detroit Mercy. Sorrell retired from DPS in 2020 after teaching U.S. History and Economics for over 2 decades. Additionally, he has been instrumental in developing mentoring programs for at-risk inner city children. Sorrell is the proud father of three sons, Nico, Nicai and Nas Sorrell.
OUTREACH PROGRAMS
One-on-one Support
Each year, Detroit Future Trends works to have a direct impact on the individuals in-need in its community. Detroit Future Trends is preparing for its Summer 2021 Outreach program which will encompass providing homeless individuals and those in need with essential personal care & hydration items that they would not have necessarily received or have access to receive. The Personal Care & Hydration Kits will be distributed in May directly to individuals as well as through other non-profit agencies.
Product donations of any kind are welcome from all.
MCDOUGALL FARMS PROJECT
Reinventing Community
The McDougall Farms Project is poised to be a 5-acre Live-Work-Play-Shop development, catering to a cross-section of patrons, employees and residents, while empowering an under served community creating jobs, expanded tax base, and extraordinary positive visibility. Detroit Future Trends is expecting over 200 jobs to be created throughout construction and the operations of all of the project components.
The design of McDougall Farms will be highlighted and highly regarded for its pedestrian friendly appeal. Research has shown that people in the area of the proposed development (consistent with the national trend) seek more opportunities to park, walk, see and spend in a quality, "open-air," pedestrian-safe environment. By creating a development that has a "Main Street" design and offers entertainment, shopping, restaurants, mid to upscale residences, Class A office space, quaint waters features with sitting areas.
Detroit Future Trends seeks not only to exceed the expectation of this community, with the development of McDougall Farms, but to have this project at as a launch pad for future large scale projects.
GET INVOLVED?
PARTNERSHIPS
Support from key stakeholders, within and outside of the City of Detroit, is vital to succeeding in the rebirth and revitalization of our community. Our partners and grantors include:
BUILDING DETROIT
CITY OF DETROIT COUNCIL MEMBER, MARY SHEFFIELD