14 | AUGUST 10 • 2023 

the history of the neighborhood, but also 
the future,
” Washington says.
Historically, Northwest Goldberg was a 
Black and Jewish community named after 
Louis Goldberg, Detroit’s first Jewish school 
board member. In 1906, a school opened in 
the area named after Goldberg, and from 
there Northwest Goldberg began to grow.
The neighborhood sits just south of West 
Grand Boulevard, near the Dexter-Linwood 
neighborhood, another historically Jewish 
area. Like many Detroit neighborhoods, it’s 
dotted with traditional, single-family brick 
homes on tree-lined streets.
Some lots sit vacant, but work is being 
done to transform those lots into public 

spaces.
 
A MODEL FOR OTHERS
Rosenberg and Bluth, who were familiar 
with NW Goldberg Cares, wanted to meet 
the individuals behind the mission and 
explore the area. “We thought it was a cool 
neighborhood,
” Rosenberg says.
NW Goldberg Cares gave the couple a 
tour of a house that Rosenberg recalls being 
just four walls with hardly any framing or 
flooring. The home needed “a lot of love,
” 
but was the organization’s first attempt at 
rehabbing a single-family home.
Then Washington asked Rosenberg and 
Bluth a life-changing question: “Do you 

want to buy the home?”
On instinct, the husband-and-wife 
duo said yes. “It made perfect sense,
” 
Rosenberg recalls. Since then, extensive 
work has been done to rehab the home. 
Floors were installed, a kitchen was 
created, and the house was essentially 
made livable.
Rosenberg and Bluth hope the home 
can serve as a model to other hopeful 
Jewish individuals looking to make a 
move to the city.
“It’s affordable and accessible,
” says 
Rosenberg, who explains a similar home 
in the middle of Huntington Woods 
could cost $500,000, and closer to $800,000 
in Birmingham. Instead, Rosenberg and 
Bluth purchased the home for less than 
$300,000.
In a way, Washington says Rosenberg 
and Bluth joining the community is full-
circle. “Northwest Goldberg is a historically 
Jewish community, so in a way it’s a 
coming home for those who are going to 
take the plunge of coming back to Detroit,
” 
he explains.
Washington says Rosenberg and Bluth 
share the same vision that he’s had since 
he was 18 years old, and that’s to improve 
the neighborhood and show others what 
Detroit has to offer.

OUR COMMUNITY
COVER STORY

continued from page 13

Daniel A. 
Washington, found-
er and executive 
director of NW 
Goldberg Cares

Chella and Jeremy 
at a NW Goldberg 
Cares Ice Cream 
Social Event.

