Retired Detroit Public School Teacher Says Documenters Aids Community Engagement

Dorian Evans

Retired Detroit Public School teacher Dorian Evans is a Documenter who has been taking notes at public meetings in Detroit since 2019. Evans says she joined hundreds of others in the program to stay involved and share that information with Detroiters.

Detroit Documenters is a program that trains and pays people to attend public meetings by live-tweeting or taking notes.

“As I prepare to do a little more in my community, the opportunity to attend so many meetings and a variety of meetings about things that are happening in the city, through Documenters.org has just really been eye-opening,” she says.

Recently, Evans attended a City Planning Commission meeting, “in which allowed just a wealth of information was shared,” about recommendations on neighborhood revitalization. Evans says the meeting ran for over four hours, showing how committed the commissioners were to their roles.

“The commissioners, I found to be very passionate about how funds were spent, such as block grant funds and… capital improvement funds,” she says.

She says Documenters helps her stay involved, encourage others to participate like her former students, and it helps Evans know who’s who in government.

“Attending those meetings, you are familiar with the officials so that when you do have issues, you know who to go to and what department and then you feel like you are more a part of the city,” she says.