ANN ARBOR—A Detroit neighborhood that currently has no grocery stores now has a fresh food source called FreshOnLine@BrewsterDouglass, a result of software developed at the University of Michigan.

At the grand opening of the Community Technological Center on Feb. 7 at 10 a.m., residents who live in the Detroit neighborhood of Brewster Douglass can walk to a neighborhood computer lab, punch in their grocery order, receive wholesale food deliveries from suppliers and pick up food items the next day. The project will offer fresh food at reasonable prices, create new jobs and maintain a Community Technology Center. The lab is located at 650 Alfred St. off of the Chrysler Service Drive in Detroit.

Software development began at the U-M and was licensed to FreshOnLine. Warren Whatley, U-M professor of economics and of Afroamerican and African studies and founder of FreshOnLine Inc., partnered with the Brewster Douglass Residence Council, the Detroit Housing Commission and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to run a national demonstration project at Brewster Douglass.

“We have a model,” says Whatley. “Our goal is to prove that it is profitable to invest in America’s poorest urban neighborhoods if you know how to do it. In the process we create local jobs, local entrepreneurs and a permanent bridge across the digital divide.”

Whatley’s students in his U-M Community Economic Development class are helping with the project. “We’re working on a Web site for the people at Brewster Douglass to give them information about the history of their housing projects and about tenants rights,” said U-M student Peter Cecil. U-M students are also creating a monthly online newsletter that they hope will become part of the curriculum at a local public school.

The online lab will be owned, managed and operated by the residents of Brewster Douglass. “The results of this joint venture are trained workers from amongst Brewster Douglass residents who run FreshOnline@BrewsterDouglass and own an interest in the profits. That’s how we’re building entrepreneurship,” Whatley said. “The model works from the bottom-up.”

The lab will benefit residents because “all of the large supermarkets have moved from the inner city, so they’re buying groceries from smaller stores with higher prices and lower quality food, but not anymore with FreshOnLine@BrewsterDouglass,” Cecil said.

Elderly residents will have their food orders delivered directly to their homes. This will be helpful to the community because “over half of the Brewster Douglass residents are elderly,” Cecil said.

Residents pay for their order as they would in any grocery store. “We’re waiting for electronic benefit transfer cards, but at the moment those aren’t available in Detroit,” Whatley said. “It’s similar to a debit card that holds food stamps.”

“We expect to go national and move pretty quickly over the next three years building out across the nation. We’ve already started looking at other sites,” Whatley said. Whatley expects 400 to 600 Brewster Douglass households to use the service.

For more information, contact:

•The Web site at www.FreshOnline.net.

•Warren Whatley, U-M professor and founder of FreshOnline:           [email protected],
•Kenneth Brown, president of FreshOnline: [email protected],           
Or contact the office at FreshOnline@BrewsterDouglass at (313) 961-2966.

FreshOnLine@BrewsterDouglassFreshOnLinewww.FreshOnline.net[email protected][email protected]