The Front Porch Renaissance Group is continuing to build community throughout Bay City, and we'd like your help.

If you'd like to join our mission of rebuilding Bay City through the restoration of its amazing Victorian architecture and other endeavors, join us for our presentation "Building Community Through Restoration" at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 16, at the Alice & Jack Wirt Public Library, 500 Center Ave., Bay City.

Learn more about our April 16 meeting and our continuing efforts in Bay City in this MLive.com article.

As Bay City Academy continues to enjoy success in its first year, the Front Porch Renaissance Group is looking at options to expand the school to accept more students.

The charter school, 400 N. Madison, is a project of Front Porch and part of our overall goal of community improvement.

One option for expansion of the school could be the former YMCA building at the corner of Columbus and Madison avenues in Bay City, Front Porch founder Steve Ingersoll told the Bay City Times.

The possible purchase of the former Y building would fit in with Ingersoll's vision to restore the city's East Side and to have schools in neighborhoods, he told the newspaper.

Read more about it in this Bay City Times article.

The Dow Chemical Company's world headquarters is in Midland, but the company knows that investment in the communities throughout the entire Great Lakes Bay Region will bring the most return.

The Dow strategy is the exact approach we like to take here at Front Porch Renaissance Group.

"Dow is committed to a regional concept because we understand our community will be far more marketable if we work together to emphasize our collective assets," Jeff Martin, Dow Chemical's community relations leader, told The Saginaw News.

While Front Porch is based in Bay City, we are committed to improving communities in and around Saginaw and Midland. Our region will succeed as the communities within it collaborate.

Read more about Dow's efforts in this Saginaw News report.

As participants of the Mayor's Community Revitalization Committee (MCRC), the Front Porch Renaissance Group was in full swing recently, rousting community members and dozens of stakeholders to make a huge improvement in a neighborhood in greater need than any other in Bay City. This neighborhood — known to some as the NPP district (Neighborhood Preservation Program) and to others as the Presidential Neighborhood, as the streets are named after U.S. presidents — has been designated as an area of high need on a federal level.

Sen. Mike Green's entire staff took action through the statewide Legislators Building Communities program, which challenges legislators to make a difference. State Rep. Charles Brunner, MCRC co-founder, also joined in the effort. Nearly all Bay City commissioners accepted Mayor Christopher Shannon's challenge, throwing their shoulders into a hard day's work. Donations were made by local stakeholders paying for industrial trash bins, and numerous golf carts were provided by the Bay County Golf Course. Others donated gloves and tools, and Tim Hortons made certain that everyone got off to a great start with doughnuts and coffee.

Neighborhood residents came out in droves to help. Even toddlers joined in with a little from their friends. Companies allowed volunteers to step out of the office for the day and help out. Community police officers were key in putting this event into action, and city staff even used vacation days to join the effort.

In the end, several tons of debris were removed from the neighborhood. Overgrown shrubs and unsightly conditions were improved. Dozens of mosquito-inviting tires were hauled off. Most importantly, the community came together to add to the momentum of this neighborhood on the rebound. In a short year, old houses used for drug hangouts were eliminated — one turned into a community garden, while others are under restoration. Several junk cars are being removed. Residents are learning what being neighbors is all about, and city commissioners have come to know unlikely community residents. Democrat and Republican state officials are working together to make Bay City a better place.