Traci Rubin, May 4th, 2024

Traci Rubin, May 4th, 2024

Traci Rubin discusses her involvement with the Manistique Community Treehouse Center, and its work in the Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood of Detroit. She talks about flooding in the neighborhood, how it affects her and her neighbors, and the steps individuals and the city can take to alleviate these issues.

In partnership with the Manistique Community Treehouse Center.

Detroit Historical Society

Detroit Historical Society

en-US

Traci Rubin

Traci Rubin has lived in the Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood since 2007. She works for Global Security and the Police Athletic League in Detroit and is involved in the Manistique Community Treehouse Center organization.

Doris Lanzkron-Tamarazo.

5/04/2024

31:14

Doris Lanzkron-Tamarazo: I'm Doris Lanzkron-Tamarazo. It's May 4th, 2024, and I'm here with—

Traci Rubin: Traci Rubin.

DLT: Can you please spell your name?

TR: T r a c i R u b i n.

DLT: And do you live in the city of Detroit?

TR: Yes.

DLT: What neighborhood do you live in?

TR: Jefferson Chalmers.

DLT: Have you always lived in that neighborhood?

TR: No.

DLT: Where did you live before then?

TR: Well, they weren't called different neighborhoods back then, but I lived, well, East English Village. I was there for a long time. And I first moved in Detroit, it was Gratiot and Six Mile area.

DLT: And how long have you lived in Jefferson Chalmers?

TR: Since 2007.

DLT: Has anything changed in the neighborhood since you arrived?

TR: Oh, a lot has changed. And I bought my house in 2005. Took me a couple of years to get it ready to move in. So you've seen ups and downs. Lot's changed.

DLT: And do you work in the city of Detroit?

TR: Yes.

DLT: Where do you work?

TR: I work for Global Security and Staffing and also the Police Athletic League for Detroit.

DLT: And what do you do for those organizations?

TR: For Global I am operations manager for security and staffing and for PAL, I am their softball commissioner.

DLT: And how did you get involved with the Treehouse Center?

TR: When I first came to this area, and just taking walks around the area, getting invited to different groups in the area, going to different meetings. That's how I learned about it.

DLT: And what made you interested in joining it?

TR: Well, when I met Tammy Black, I learned about a lot of things she was doing and other people that she was connected with in the neighborhood. And it was all pretty positive. And you always want to see positive in the neighborhood and help out if you can.

DLT: And who are some of the other people that Tammy Black was working with in the neighborhood?

TR: Well, our state representatives and senators. The ones before we have now, I didn't know as much. The ones we have now, Senator Stephanie Chang, state rep Joe Tate. And then there's, we have all the other groups. Sometimes they work together. The Creekside. There's so many of them, I can't even think of all of them. There's at least five different groups in the area.

DLT: And would you say the organization has a good relationship with these representatives?

TR: For the most part, yes.

DLT: What are some of the ways they cooperate?

TR: Invite each other to different events. Tammy has events for the whole neighborhood, like when she did the Solstice Night or the Halloween parties, back to school events or the garage giveaway. It wasn't a garage sale. It was a garage giveaway. And everybody brought different items and just gave them away. So everybody's invited.

DLT: And can you tell me a little bit more about that solstice event?

TR: Oh, it was the end of, you know, summer solstice. So, she had a tree with lights on it, and you could write what you were looking forward to for the next year. But first you had to go through the, get rid of last year. So there were two different fire pits. And you had to get the paper, write on it what you wanted to get rid of from the previous year and then go burn it in the fire pit and then go up to the lighted tree. And they had coffee, cider, donuts, pizza, for everybody.

DLT: And would you say the attendance at these different events has increased over the years?

TR: It's been up and down because of the pandemic. A lot of people haven't come back from the pandemic, but then new people have moved into the neighborhood. So we've gotten new people that way. And then with Nextdoor, our neighborhood app Nextdoor, a lot of people see different stuff that's posted there. So they come in the neighborhood. And then, a lot of things have gotten bigger, as far as the solar garden, and I can't think of the name of the neighborhood garden across the street. And then the ones on the other side of that on Ashland.

DLT: So, there's other organizations working on solar in the area. Or is it mostly the Treehouse Center?

TR: Mostly the treehouse. The other people are working on different things. Tammy's, I think, the only one that I know that does solar in the area.

DLT: And can you tell me a little bit about the Treehouse’s efforts in solar?

TR: Well, this was before the pandemic. Tammy had, I can't think of his name at the moment, but it was a gentleman who had been in solar for a long time, and he was even putting up the money for different people to help get solar. So Tammy had a big meeting, and we went to different houses on the street that already had solar. And then we also did, they did analysis of our houses. That, what could we get as far as solar? Do we have the right kind of roof for it? Were we facing south? You know, basically educating us on the solar and the different kinds it had, how many panels you need for your needs, for your house.
Because like, Tammy has that big, giant thing in her yard. Whereas mine, I would have been lucky enough to get it, I have a, the side of my house is southern facing, so that’s sunshine all day. And then the way that my roof is made, I would have been able to have my panels right there. And I had planned on getting it on that house and the house I have down the street. And then the pandemic hit and I lost a lot of money. But I'm making my way back. And now I talk with Tammy again and talk with another group. And it's coming back again where we were able to get help to get the solar.

DLT: And what would you say the community response has been to the Treehouse's solar efforts?

TR: I think it's been a very good response. And I was even at her, when she had the first meeting for her training, the solar power training. And that was very informative. She had, I think she had about 30 people there for the first one. And that was before the class was to start. She had electricians there, a lot of different groups of people.

DLT: And can you tell me a little bit more about that solar training? Were you involved in organizing it?

TR: I just, I call myself Tammy's unofficial assistant and security. She needs it. I always help people sign in, get their paperwork, turn the paperwork back in. Get word of mouth, pass it out for people, for Tammy, you know, so we can get more people involved.

DLT: And have there ever been any security issues?

TR: No, no. During Covid. Tammy did have a couple of events, but I had security people here just to make sure we were following the rules, that we didn't have too many people and at one time, people had their mask on. Everybody wasn't, you know, too close to each other, just to make sure we were doing what we were supposed to do.

DLT: You might have mentioned it earlier, but how many years have you been involved with the Treehouse center?

TR: It’s 2024. I want to say since 2008? No, maybe ten. But I think since I first started seeing her lawn signs that she had over here.

DLT: And who else was involved at that point?

TR: What do you mean, as far as Tammy, or?

DLT: Tammy, anyone else who was kind of, major in the organization.

TR: I wouldn't know about major, but it was a lot of people in the neighborhood, a lot of seniors involved. My children were involved. It was very good, a lot of things that she was bringing to the neighborhood, the food, food distribution she was doing, the lunches for the children for the summer. And like, I would take some of those from her house and then pass them off to other people or my other neighbors who couldn't get to where she was. So always something good going on.

DLT: And yeah, you've mentioned very wide participation in the community. How do you think that the organization's been able to accomplish that level of community engagement?

TR: Mostly word of mouth and flyers, because a lot of time, Tammy will pay for the flyers, and then a lot of us will go pass them out. Like, I go a lot of different places. I play a lot of sports. I take the flyers with me. Some of us take streets, so we just pass them out on the streets. Like I'm Ashland, might be Alter, or we meet up and do it so that everybody just knows what's going on.

DLT: And how does the organization work to educate people about climate change or other environmental issues?

TR: Tammy has different classes or trainings because she has the, what is it? The house that the children, also the young people, they're going to fix up the entire house. So that's teaching them everything, how to do floors, walls, windows, everything they need to know if they want to get into that kind of business. Was that the question?

DLT: Yeah, definitely. And how do you feel that these educational efforts have been able to impact the community?

TR: I think it's a positive. It's a plus. And like, I've brought some security personnel to work our events and then they want to be involved in the event. So I was like, every time somebody hears about it, you know, that's one more person that then they're going to tell somebody.

DLT: And have you been involved in the Treehouse’s flood mitigation efforts?

TR: Have I been? I think my involvement is more word of mouth. Like, where can we get help? How can we get help? I've been to some of the meetings. Been to city council meetings again to Rep. Joe Tate, Stephanie Chang, I've been to their meetings. And actually, one of the things Joe Tate did when we first start having the floods, he chartered a bus and had different dignitaries here, and we toured the neighborhood. They even stopped in my house—that’s by the canal. Toured the neighborhood, looked at everybody else's seawall, and then we went over to Grosse Pointe, looked at the areas that were hardest affected. We went to the water treatment plant, and we learned part of what the issues were over there that were affecting us.

DLT: And what were some of those issues you learned about?

TR: At the water treatment plant? Well, one, with the river being so high that at a certain point when it goes out to the water treatment or the river, it's higher than the valve that sends it back out, so it can't go anywhere.

DLT: And do you feel that the flooding issues have gotten worse over time or stayed about the same?

TR: I can't say they've gotten worse because all of the issues over here weren't all flooding. Some of it was the water treatment plant not being where they should have been, so we wouldn't have had any back flows, spewing of sewage into the basement, because that's not flooding.

DLT: So it's an issue with kind of, managing the water rather than the flooding itself?

TR: It's both. We had some flooding in the beginning, and that was basically seawall issues. Different seawalls were broken or too low and like the state, yeah, the state they commissioned a $1 million study to figure out what should be done. And then they used $3 million to put the Tiger Dams up, which we didn't have another flood over those. I think the next one that we had was when the whatever it is under I-94 didn't work, and that caused the water to come to our area. Because my corner of Korte and Ashland is the lowest point. So water just goes there. It's a combination. And we did learn when we went to the water treatment plant how they were, they wanted to build another plant or add where the pipes were up higher. So that would eliminate one of the problems also.

DLT: And do you feel that the city's response has been sufficient to these issues?

TR: I have to think about that because we have certain people really, really trying. And some others, I can say not putting in the same effort. And then, you know, government is slow. We all know that. And some of the money that's been spent on surveys or studies could have been used for a fix. And part of the fix is fix the seawalls. Make them all the same height all the way around. And that would take a lot of the problem away, just like it did for Grosse Pointe. If you go over there, look at their side of the seawall. They haven't had any flooding since they put that up.

DLT: And besides the seawalls, do you think there's anything else that needs to be done, to deal with this issue?

TR: Well. The water treatment plant they need to have it where the pipes are able to put the water where it needs to be. Not have it come back in into their pipes but do it in a responsible way for the community. Like not put it in the middle of the street where it's blocking off other people where they live and their property and their inheritance from their family and living here. And I went to a couple of the GLWA meetings where they do have things planned for the area that's, you know, a few million dollars.
Definitely we didn't like when the city decided they were going to close the canal. And then they had said how they had, I think it was 15 properties along the water that their seawalls weren't right, but they wanted to ticket it, community members. And they didn't fix their own house, and one of theirs is a problem to my house. You know, you can't tell somebody else in the neighborhood what to do if you don't take care of your stuff. And we have to defer to you. You're the city. So you gotta help us too.

DLT: And what has your personal experience been with the flooding? Has your house been heavily affected by it?

TR: Yes. I've had, I've lost track now, how many floods we've had, how many cars I've lost. Yeah, the first one I didn't know you could tell FEMA that you lost your vehicle because the water was so high, messed up all the electric in my car. The next flood, I did know that, because I had water five feet outside and five feet inside. And I had two vehicles, but you can only claim one. So that’s like a big loss. How do you replace washers dryers, two furnaces? I have two furnaces, two hot water tanks, plus two vehicles. The very first time FEMA gave us money, I got $4,626. What do I choose? I have to have a car, so I go it out. Everything else, have to have furnace, have to have water heater. And the next time we had a flood, I forgot which governor was in then, he said Detroit has enough money. They don't need any help. But there was no help. There was no money.
Then the last time—not this last year's flood, the one before that, FEMA increased the money and I believe I got $12,000. So again, now, since everybody's water heaters are bad, water heater prices went up $300. I have two, and this is the third time I had to replace them. Plus the washer and dryer. So now my washer and dryer is upstairs in one of the rooms. I better keep from having to replace that. So it's just, I can't even count how much money. And then go back and talk about— My mom passed away, so I had some of her stuff in my basement. I had her black doll collection. Dolls with dresses created by Bob Mackie. I don't know if you know who that is. He created dresses for Cher and Carol Burnett. You know, those are irreplaceable. She had the first Pistons doll, Barbie doll, black Barbie doll with the Pistons uniform. The pictures. You know you can't replace that. What was the price?

DLT: And have you heard similar experiences from other people in the neighborhoods?

TR: Yes, some people still have water in their basement. Some people can't afford to fix it. Some people don't have furnaces yet. You know what, what do you do? I have a neighbor. I think she's in her upper 70s. She's nervous to talk to people. Her husband passed away. He was taking care of all the business. What does she do? Who does he talk to?

DLT: And you mentioned putting your washer and dryer on higher floors. What other ways have people been adapting to the flooding?

TR: Don't keep anything in the basement, because it's going to get ruined. Hang stuff from the ceiling. Just whatever you could do. And then after a while, you end up having to throw out so much stuff. You can't replace it. You know, I had a couch in the basement. Cabinets. I had more kitchen cabinets because I was refurbishing my whole house. Limestone. What do you call it? Goes by the windows. Windowsills. All this garbage.

DLT: And have you, do you know much about the Treehouse's partnership with the National Weather Service?

TR: Yes, I believe they have a training coming up. I know she had one last year. It was a different training service, but I think there's one this month, and I'll be going to that.

DLT: [Can you tell me a little bit more about what that will look like?

TR: I'm not sure all of it, but I know it'll be about the knowing when weather situations are coming. What to do in case of disaster or weather issues, or how to help the neighbors, everybody get to where they need to be. I'm just kind of getting the word out. Don't leave anybody not aware or not knowing what's happening.

DLT: And have you personally used the flooding app that the National Weather Service developed to help people stay alert about what floods are coming?

TR: Yeah, I get alerts from it, and I think it's on, Nextdoor. And so I see it on there, but I, I listen to the news, the radio. So I'm prepared, you know, and all of us, soon as it rains, we go, okay, let's go look in the basement, see how it looks. That's like a every storm occurrence for us.

DLT: And do you think having this information available for the community has helped deal with these flooding damages?

TR: It's helped some. Like, you know, to move your car, move your car to the highest ground. You know. That's the one thing you do or don't even bring into the neighborhood that day. If you can help it.

DLT: And you've alluded to it a few times throughout this interview. But can you tell me a little bit more about the impact of Covid on the Treehouse Center?

TR: It slowed everything down. I think at that time, right before Covid, Tammy was ready to start building. She had had some wood delivered. And then when Covid hit, wood prices went crazy. They were tripled, quadrupled. So it would have been like a few 100,000 extra, couple hundred thousand extra to do the same thing that she was planning. So that had to wait for a while.

DLT: And has the, have those prices recovered?

TR: I mean, they've come down some. You know, I think across the board for Americans. The prices have come down some and they really should be coming down more. But I think some merchants like those prices. They got used to that, even though there's really no reason for it right now.

DLT: And what are some of those building plans that got slowed down by Covid?

TR: For as far as the Treehouse?

DLT: Yeah.

TR: The actual Treehouse, the whole entire thing.

DLT: And what's that going to look like once it's been completed?

TR: Well, from the renderings that I've seen, it has a ramp to get up to it because, you know, for Americans with disabilities, they'll be able to get to it cause you don't want them sitting on the ground, can't participate in what's going on. And then it has like, a walkway wide enough for them to go around and everybody to go around the Treehouse, why it's up off the ground. It's not in a tree, you know, but it's elevated, which is something nice. And all people are kids at heart. Everybody wanted a Treehouse.

DLT: And can you tell me a little bit about the Treehouse Center's garden and greening efforts?

TR: The greening efforts?

DLT: Yeah.

TR: Oh, well, the garden, it's always changing from the first time I went over there when they had their community barbecue, to the different speakers that she had. And some of the land has been, someone else bought it, so it had to be shortened up a little bit. But the walkway is in and, you know, the solar power building where you can come and plug your phones up or whatever you need to, if you have no power. Let me see, the back gardens where when you walk straight through, that's gotten bigger and bigger. And then the bird houses. Those are nice. I had a friend donate, like, ten birdhouses, so that's nice to see those. And it's a nice place to walk at night also. And the flowers have matured. They've gotten bigger. A lot more people know about it, so it's nice that people come together to help do things there.
I’ve been to a few talks. We did have, after the second to last flooding? There was our city council person, the state rep, GLWA. I can't remember, Dennis Brown, I can't think of his name correctly, but a lot of them came and we had a, a community meeting where everybody could ask questions. Of course, some people were still upset, very upset because, you know, every time it floods, this changes your life, you know? So it was great that they came out and were trying to give us the best information that they could at the time and what they were proposing for the area, bills they were putting in. You know, it's nice to know that they're thinking about us and then we wait for it to come through.

DLT: If there could be like one dream project that your organization could do for the community. What would you want that to be?

TR: Just one? [Laughter]

DLT: You can say as many as you'd like?

TR: Well, the solar power, I think that's a big, big, big deal. Especially now with, you know, how old the infrastructures are for everything. And even though I know there's money coming and supposedly already slated for infrastructure, you never know when it’s going to get to you. And with the power outages across America, the power outages we've already had here. People who are sicker than they were before Covid. They need their power. And then it would be really great for their wallets and their monthly money. You know, if you're making a little bit versus that much more going out, that would be great. Using the power of the sun, which is free after you get the right equipment. So, and that's unaffordable to a lot of people. So it'd be great. The solar power. I think that, you're talking about what the Treehouse can do for people? Yeah, the first one would be the solar power.

DLT: And what would you want the city to do for people?

TR: The most important thing? Replace the seawall. Make it even all the way around. That would, that would be two wonderful, great things that, unimaginable how it could help this community alone. That would save me $700 a year in floodplain insurance. Just off the top of my head. And maybe no more vehicles lost to water. And then the mold that comes with it, I'm a severe asthmatic, so, and I'm allergic to mold, so I have to be very, very, very careful about any mold in my house, the water coming in, I have to pay other people to come clean it. So with free electricity, not having to worry about the floods, trying to replace everything. That's a savings right there for all of us.

DLT: And you mentioned the issue of power outages. Do you feel those have gotten worse over time?

TR: I can say, well, we haven't had a total eastern seaboard outages like we had. How many years ago was that? Back in 2014 or so? I can't remember how long ago that was. No, that was before that. That was early 2000s, I think. So we haven't had anything like that. And over here, when they say a power outage, you always live across the street because we have two different grids, or three different grids over here. So I come outside, see my neighbor, okay, she's out. That means I won't be out. Or if I'm out, she's not out, you know? So I was like, you don't really want to have to expect that. So that has happened a lot in the last, we'll say five, six years.

DLT: And what would you say the community's biggest concerns are that you've heard from them in these meetings?

TR: The water. Not necessarily from the flooding, but from the water treatment plant not being where they should be. That impacts us. And then saying it wasn't them when you know it's you, and when you even paid for a study from Wayne State University that said it was you. You know, and the city trying to beat the people out of the lawsuit to pay for the restitutions about it, because like the backflow devices that are being put in now, they started last year and are continuing it, that was supposed to be done in 2016 after the flood, and then we didn't get any floods or back up so they said, oh, we'll just let that go for a while. How much more damage was done. And that got us to the flood plain.

DLT: And, we talked about the National Weather Service and about the city council members. Were there any other partnerships the Treehouse has that you wanted to highlight?

TR: Well, some of them, I don't know if it's a partnership, but everybody helping the neighborhood, like JE, Jefferson East Business Association. I can't think of her last name right now, but Mary, she's been a big, big help, where she brought the Mennonite disaster recovery services in, and they help people. They're the ones that, on one flood with back up, steam cleaned my basement, the whole thing, painted the walls, built a room around my water heaters, lifted my water heaters, and then replaced my front steps, my side steps—because they're wood, and you can only keep letting would get wet like that for so long. So they did that and they put support beams in my house I didn't even know were missing, you know.
And she brought that here. And I think it was Jefferson East, and I can't think of her name right now, but they brought, you know, the big giant buckets you might get from Home Depot? They brought those, and they used my yard as a staging area because it's so central. And it had all cleaning products that was from, for Covid. So everybody could get that right. No, I can't remember if that was Covid, or that was flooding. I'm not sure. But it had different cleaning products: the sponges, gloves, everything, that was flooding. So there's, and you know, I don't hear about everything that's going on. And sometimes we get some help, but I'm at work. You can't get there if you have to work. Trying to remember if I know any other company or any other neighborhood groups that helped out.

DLT: And do you have any particular hopes or fears for the future of your neighborhood?

TR: My hopes is that we get the seawalls fixed, the treatment plant does what they're supposed to do in a neighborhood-conscious way. And then this park here gets finished where we can all use it again. The pumping station they want to build in the street is, maybe they take heed of what people are trying to give them information of, and they end up making it look like a house in a neighborhood instead of in the middle of the street, like Grosse Pointe has, or just a building on the land like Saint Clair Shores has. I don't see any other cities building it in the middle of the street, tearing up their neighborhood. I think that about covers everything.

DLT: Did you have any final thoughts you wanted to share before we finish up the interview?

TR: Just thank you all for what you're doing. We appreciate it, appreciate Tammy. appreciate all the other groups that try to help in the neighborhood and keep doing what you're doing.

DLT: Thank you so much for your time.