From KCRW and KCRW.com, I'm Bob Carlson, and this is Unfictional.

Unfictional is KCRW's program of stories and original documentaries.

It's part of KCRW's independent producer project,

kind of a laboratory for independent radio producers, writers,

and performers. And today on the program, a documentary about work

and the city of Detroit, Michigan. In the news you hear the poverty-stricken

citizens of Detroit, all the devastated communities.

It's so desolate. That was enough to make you feel bad.

What if it read the spiritually rich citizen of the city of Detroit

experiencing abandoned homes have now decided to

embrace with love and hope their communities and rebuild for a future.

That sounds different.

It's the radio premiere of a story from producer

Zach Rosen called Work in Progress

about people in Detroit without jobs,

without access to proper food, without dignity,

who are tired of waiting for someone else

to bail them out and who are working together

to rebuild the city themselves, neighborhood

by neighborhood.

Zach Rosen himself grew up outside Detroit, but that doesn't mean he really understood

the city.

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