As Summer in the City continues to grow from its service to Detroit, the amount of Reflection and Dialogue has become a crucial part of its programming. The experience that each volunteer has does not exist in a vacuum and often a connection to a larger picture through conversation helps the volunteers of SITC gain meaningful insight into their experience.

The formal version of R&D was created as a means to facilitated fruitful communication between community members, volunteers, crew members, educators, organizers and local stakeholders. Every day Summer in the City volunteers already engage in dynamic conversations about where they are serving and the community in which they reside. R&D takes this one step further to guide volunteers and Crew members through these conversations to provide meaningful questions about their experiences as individuals explore the deep meaning of service and the change they see themselves enacting within their community as well as their own character.