OCTOBER 24 • 2019 | 33
“Major Tenant” from page 31
One” mobile unit to bring job training
and placement resources to home-
bound residents in Detroit.
In addition to operating the new
Durfee Detroit at Work Career Center
and WorkForce One mobile unit, JVS
and ResCare will also be managing the
Detroit at Work Call Center. The call
center serves as a central location for
Detroiters seeking employment and
training resources and will be staffed by
several Detroit at Work interns gaining
valuable work experience while serving
this vital need to Detroit residents.
The new Career Center will be
staffed by 25 employees. Additional
funding has been provided by the
McGregor Foundation for integrating
human-centered design elements into
the office space and the approach to
working with customers.
The opening of the JVS center at
Durfee is somewhat of a personal tri-
umph for the organization’
s chief oper-
ating officer, Paul Blatt. His father-in-
law, who attended Central High School
(on the same campus), lived on nearby
Tuxedo Street.
“I am so excited about JVS securing
this space and this DESC contract,
”
Blatt said. “JVS for 77 years has always
delivered our job training resources
to the people of Detroit to get them
back to school or work. Now we can
deliver directly to the neighborhood
where they live with our mobile unit.
[Our center in Durfee] harkens back to
our core mission of helping all Metro
Detroiters maximize their potential.
”
DURFEE HISTORY
Durfee Intermediate School opened
in 1927 and is located on the curve of
Collingwood at LaSalle on Detroit’
s
west side. It originally served a work-
ing-class population, including the
children of many Jewish immigrants.
Over the decades, population demo-
graphics shifted, and the school body
was reduced to one-tenth of what it
was at its height.
Due to falling test scores,
Detroit
Public School Community District
(DPSCD) moved the remaining
600 pupils to a corridor in nearby
Central Collegiate Academy and
closed the school in 2017. It leased
the 143,000-square-foot building for
the next 50 years at $1 per year to the
nonprofit organization Life Remodeled,
headed by Chris Lambert, its founder
and CEO. (See sidebar.)
With JVS moving in, DIS will be at
89 percent occupancy. Additionally,
spaces such as the building’
s auditori-
um, gymnasium and classrooms have
been restored and are available to rent
for events and functions.
Blatt met Lambert in 2017 at a
Mackinac Policy Conference and was
“So, we were practicing extra
points,” Sander continued.
“Then we went home, and our
parents told us,” Sander said,
pausing before sharing the
haunting news that awaited
him and his brother. It turns
out on that day, while 10-year
old Sander was innocently
kicking footballs being held by
his 7-year old brother Carl, the
Japanese were bombing Pearl
Harbor.
On a much lighter note,
Herb took home the award
for funniest memory when
he admitted he made a buzz-
er-beating half-court shot
for the Durfee intramural
basketball team. “The ball
went swish,” Herb said, “right
through the net … for the
opposing team.”
At the end of the visit, it was
to a person, as Aaron Krieger
described, “great to be back in
the hallowed halls of Durfee.”
Added his wife, Winnie: “It’
s
also great to know that the
Jewish community that ben-
efited so positively from the
foundation that Durfee pro-
vided us as children can now
help pay it forward.”
As the mini-reunion began
to break up, Tillander proudly
informed the gathering that
“those hallways and nearly
every classroom in the DIS,
including the 35,000 square
feet dedicated to the MDYC,
are now occupied by counsel-
ing, literacy and entrepreneur-
ial programs.”
“Durfee,” Tillander conclud-
ed, “once filled with the energy
and promise of our Greatest
Generation is filled once more
with hope and opportunity for
the next greatest generation.
We are so proud that Carl and
Sander Levin, Jim Comer and
the Durfee alumni are on this
journey with us.”
“[Our center in
Durfee] harkens back
to JVS’ core mission
of helping all Metro
Detroiters maximize
their potential.”
— PAUL BLATT
ABOVE: Chris
Lambert, left,
founder and CEO
of Life Remodeled
and the catalyst
for Durfee’
s
transformation, with
Paul Blatt, JVS’
COO,
in a space JVS will
use as the building’
s
largest tenant.
DERRICK MARTINEZ
“Major Tenant” continued on page 34