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2/27
1998

JN

248-354-6060 ext. 209

At 80 years old, Norman Naimark's commitment to affordable housing
— and myriad other causes — has not flagged.

AMY MINDELL
Special to The Jewish News

C

estate development with helping to
ensure that their biggest project to
date, the 87-unit Clement Kern
Gardens, was built to the group's satis-
faction.
"We had no experience in building.
Thanks to Norm, we were able to
interview potential developers from
our own perspective. Otherwise, they
would have walked off with all the
profits and built according to their
own standards — not ours," Beaupre
says.

nating friends whom I might never
have met had I not ventured beyond
my immediate community. I am
enriched by these friendships. It makes
for a very exciting life," he says.
In addition to his CCHC responsi-
bilities, Naimark is the treasurer of
Casa Maria Family Services, a non-
profit group in southwest Detroit ded-
icated to enhancing the lives of chil-
dren and teens. He is also a member
of the Detroit Empowerment Zone
Housing Task Force.

orktown is Detroit's oldest
neighborhood. Located near
Tiger Stadium, its residents
are a compatible mix of
Irish, Maltese and "everything else" —
except Jews. Yet the president of the
Corktown Consumer Housing
Cooperative is a Jew from Farmington
Hills.
Norman Naimark, 80,
has held the presidential
position for most of the
last 12 years. He began
advocating for affordable
bo,
housing because of his
4rder,
experience in real estate
ork to s
''n
development, but it is part
°usi ng c c onst me,
of his larger commitment
Aba ark.
to "improving the general
welfare of society."
tvelopilientt
L oval irmiatives S Aq<-
Professionally, Naimark
founded several building
MSHDA F WARM Tra':' -orPor
corporations, including
U of M Legal Assistance
Construction Craftsmen
for Urban Con . nunites
Corp., Covenant
Corporation, and Budget
For:
Builders, which he still
runs. Outside the corpo-
rate world, he donates
countless hours to a wide
range of community
groups.
Twenty-five years ago,
Naimark met Shirley
Beaupre, a 70-year-old
community activist and
Norman Naimark with a sign of things to come.
retired Catholic educator,
at a meeting of the
Naimark has been as deeply
Beaupre also points to Naimark's
Michigan Committee on Law and
involved
in the Jewish community: He
skill
as
a
negotiator
—
he
has
been
an
Housing. She was then a fledgling
serves
as
the national secretary of the
arbitrator
with
the
American
activist and recalls being impressed by
Labor
Zionist
Alliance and as a board
Arbitration
Association
since
1976
—
Naimark's skill in untangling red tape.
member
of
both
the Detroit Labor
in
creating
community
consensus.
As she continued her involvement,
Zionist
Alliance
and
the American
"He was able to help us quantify
she often met Naimark at meetings of
Zionist
Movement-Michigan
region.
often opposing impressions and emo-
the Michigan Housing Coalition and
He's
been
a
delegate
for
four
World
tions among neighbors and come up
the Michigan Housing Trust Fund,
Zionist Congresses in Jerusalem, most
with a usable plan of action," she says.
groups to which Naimark still belongs.
recently in December. He cites his
Sitting
together
in
Beaupre's
cozy
In 1976, at the urging of the late
Labor Zionist roots as an early inspira-
Corktown
kitchen,
she
calls
Naimark
a
Father Clement Kern, a man Naimark
tion for social responsibility.
which
seems
to
embarrass
him,
mentsh,
calls a "saint," Naimark and Beaupre
Naimark also served as a board
and
"friend,"
which
delights
him.
helped found the Corktown
member
of the Jewish Federation of
To Naimark, helping others is more
Consumer Housing Cooperative
Metropolitan
Detroit for nine years
than social responsibility: "My
(CCHC) to develop affordable hous-
and
the
Jewish
Community Council
activism
moves
beyond
feeling
needed
ing in that neighborhood. Beaupre
for
18
years,
and
as chairman of the
or
making
a
contribution.
I
have
fasci-
credits Naimark's knowledge of real

c

