CAN Hikone

HIKONE

School Year Programs • Summer Programs • Residents Council • Many Thanks

Hikone, a public housing site for low-income families, is located off Packard Road, across from Buhr Park, behind Rose Park and adjacent to Brown Park. AATA busses 5 and 7 conveniently reach Hikone, and it is a quick 15 minutes away from downtown Ann Arbor, the University of Michigan and Washtenaw Community College. Hikone’s setting enriches its residents’ opportunities; in the summer one only has to cross the street to go swimming at Buhr Park pool, in spring and fall the area converts to a skateboarding park, and in the winter the pool becomes an ice skating rink.

School Year Programs

CAN offers programs at Hikone for children and youth of all ages. These include academically-oriented programs, such as:

individual tutoring in our daily homework room
participation in America Reads
Michigan Reach Out! (a hands-on science program)
Serendipity reading program, providing a large selection of new books which the youth can pick from each week
computers that boast high speed Internet-connections are available during center hours.

Other programs address personal growth and the development of life skills:

monthly outdoor and environmental opportunities through Sierra Club Inner City Outings
biweekly clean-ups to keep the site neat and attractive
on-site Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, established through a collaboration of CAN and Huron Valley Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts
dramatic arts workshops
nutrition & cooking classes
Teen Talk groups
recreation every Wednesday evening at the Allen Elementary school gym

Summer Programs

Our schedule is very full. In the summer months, CAN provides:

a free six-week theme-based summer camp for Hikone youth ages 5 and up
academic activities with regular summer camp recreational fun
nutritious meals
trips for campers to nearby parks and pools, Wild Swan Theatre plays, nature centers and the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum
an employment program for teens each summer; every teen had the opportunity to work the past couple of summers

In addition to facilitating the Head Start enrollment of every eligible child living at Hikone, CAN has coordinated a preschool summer camp for the past two years. Our toddlers and preschoolers can't wait to spend time playing with the water table, the play kitchen, and the many other developmentally appropriate toys and activities.

With the library just a block away, a city pool across the street and parks in the front and back yard, it isn't hard to find something to do at Hikone.

Residents' Council

The Hikone community enjoys many neighborhood activities, many of which are co-sponsored by CAN and the Residents' Council. These include:

a big Thanksgiving Pot luck
scavenger hunts at Easter and Halloween
a Back To School BBQ (with free backpacks filled with school supplies for every school child, courtesy of First Congregational Church)
a visit from Santa every year

Many Thanks

In addition to our many donors, volunteers and sponsors, special thanks to:

Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation's Youth Council, for a grant that resulted in a special weight lifting room for Hikone's teen boys
Food Gatherers who distribute food to the Hikone twice monthly
First Congregational Church for supplying back-to-school backpacks filled with school supplies for every school child

Center Director, Aaron C. Pressel

Phone: (734) 973-1183
FAX: (734) 973-8332