continued on page 33

 OCTOBER 24 • 2019 | 31

Major 
Tenant

JVS will play a key 
role in job training and 
placement for Detroiters 
needing work. 

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

T

he friendly receptionist who greets 
you in the cavernous entry hall 
of the Durfee Innovation Society 
(DIS) on Detroit’
s west side says it best 
when describing the building that once 
housed the Durfee Intermediate School: 
“She’
s a beautiful beast.”
They don’
t make school buildings like 
this anymore. Its Gothic style features 
soaring windows, a hardwood gymna-
sium, wide hallways with ornate crown 
molding and architectural details through-
out. There is even a decaying, marble-lad-
en swimming pool that has the potential 
to be restored for a community swim club 

if the right donor comes along.
In October, the school-turned-training/
social services incubator will welcome JVS 
Human Services and ResCare Workforce 
Services as its newest and biggest 
tenant. JVS Human Services announced 
July 29 it has been awarded a $3.5 million 
joint contract with national employment 
services agency ResCare Workforce 
Services by the Detroit Employment 
Solutions Corporation (DESC) to move 
into a 10,000-square-foot space inside 
Durfee. 
The award also includes funding for 
operating the Detroit at Work “WorkForce 

e 

munity of mostly African American home-
owners was initially suspicious as to why a 
white developer wanted to buy such a large 
piece of property in a predominantly African 
American neighborhood. He said at town hall 
meetings they feared it would be just another 
sign of gentrification, an opening of shops 
and restaurants that the locals would not 
patronize, need or afford. 
“To succeed and win the trust of the local 
residents, the center would need to take 
a holistic approach to improving the very 
community where people live by providing a 
host of financial, job and education training 
as well as social services and some arts pro-
gramming,” Lambert said. 

As of August, Life Remodeled is working to 
raise the last $1.3 million of the $4.9 million 
budgeted to complete the renovations.
Funding also comes from charging rent. 
To be a tenant at Durfee, Lambert explained, 
they must fall into three categories: edu-
cation, workforce development or human 
services. Lambert keeps rent slightly under 
what the current market rate will bear at $15 
per square foot, which is slightly lower than 
Downtown rates that average about $19 per 
square foot.
At press time, Durfee is 89 percent occu-
pied and growing, he said. 

— Stacy Gittleman, contributing writer

Built in 1927, the Gothic-style 
Durfee Intermediate School now 
is home to a host of social ser-
vice agencies helping Detroiters 
live better lives.

DERRICK MARTINEZ

DERRICK MARTINEZ

LIFE REMODELED