This story is part of a special series where Planet Detroit’s neighborhood reporters hit the streets to capture local perspectives on voting and civic participation. Through interviews with community members across Detroit, we explore the challenges, motivations, and hopes that shape how our neighbors engage with the democratic process. These stories spotlight the diverse voices and experiences that define voting in our city, offering a window into the ways Detroiters view their role in shaping the future.

Neighborhood Reporting Lab is supported by the Americana and Kresge Foundations.

Meghan Rutigliano: Will you state your name, age and occupation?

Theresa Chavez: I live in Detroit’s Boston-Edison neighborhood; I’m 44, and I’m a caregiver for an elderly lady with dementia.

Meghan: Are you voting this year?

Theresa: Yeah, I plan to.

Meghan: Do you believe your vote makes a difference?

Theresa: I do, to a point, because I believe that we live in a two-party system that’s essentially one. I know we have Republicans and Democrats, but I feel both parties are very similarly intertwined, and a lot of the people running speak for their corporate donors. They don’t speak for us. So, I feel voting only makes a little bit of difference.

Meghan: What issues would you say are your top three?

Theresa: Definitely climate change, that’s a huge one. I would also say the genocide that’s going on in Palestine right now, because our tax dollars are funding that, and probably health care.

Meghan: Can you elaborate on your views on climate change?

Theresa: Climate change is very tied to a lot of different things. There’s gonna be a lot of climate refugees if this keeps happening, which means people are being displaced from where they’re at. The more we’re increasing the CO2 in our Earth, especially with the fossil fuel industry, the more it’s exacerbating the temperature rising, which is causing the polar caps to melt. Unless we start moving away from fossil fuels, our future doesn’t look very good because we’re basically hurling ourselves to sixth mass extinction with the climate change going on.

Meghan: And what about the genocide in Palestine?

Theresa: Israel is an illegal apartheid state. The Palestinians are natives in that land, and they’re essentially in open concentration camps. Our country is providing the money and weapons to do this ethnic cleansing, this holocaust that we’re going through. The war is actually exacerbating climate change through the ecocide, the damage to the land.

Meghan: And how does healthcare factor into your voting decisions?

Theresa: Healthcare should be a basic human right. Many countries have single-payer healthcare, but in this country, we have to pay for it unless we have a job that provides it. A lot of people can’t afford healthcare, and it’s tied to how much you make. It should be a basic human right, and our taxes should be going to healthcare, not to bomb children over in Palestine.

Meghan: Focusing a bit more on climate and the environment, what are the most pressing concerns to you and your community? Is it air quality, access to clean water, climate resilience, green jobs, or something else?

Theresa: The air quality seems okay in Detroit, but I know there are some communities where factories are polluting the air. As for water, I’ve always heard Detroit has the cleanest water, but I know there are a lot of places where the water is not safe, like in Flint. They still haven’t replaced all the pipes, and people still have issues. So water and air quality are definitely my top priorities, because that’s what we’re ingesting all the time.

Meghan: Is there anything else you’d like to share while you have the floor?

Theresa: I truly feel we should all start moving away from the two-party system because it’s not serving us anymore. I think the only way we can truly change course in this country is to organize a working-class party that speaks for the people. Also, to organize a general strike, we need to withhold our labor and our spending to create change in this country.

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Meghan Rutigliano is an emerging journalist residing in Lafayette Park, known for her weekly contributions to Outlier Media’s “Get Busy.” Meghan participated in this winter’s Planet Detroit Neighborhood Reporting Lab to improve her writing skills and deepen her connection to like-minded residents across the metro area.