Life Remodeled Invites Community To Name East Side Detroit Neighborhood Opportunity Hub – Press Release
Life Remodeled Invites Community To Name East Side Detroit Neighborhood Opportunity Hub – Press Release
Namethatbuilding.com Website Goes Live November 1st – November 30th
DETROIT (October 30, 2023) – Life Remodeled, the Detroit-based nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming properties into neighborhood hubs of opportunity, invites the community in and around its future opportunity hub on Detroit’s eastside to decide the building’s name.
As part of its commitment to inclusive community engagement, Life Remodeled has established a website, namethatbuilding.com, to allow those with a vested interest in the nearby area – anyone who lives, learns, works or worships in the neighborhoods near the future community hub – to select its name. The organization also invites alumni of the Winans Academy of Performing Arts and Dominican High School to participate.
As announced in July and closed earlier in October, Life Remodeled acquired a 7.55-acre site in the Denby neighborhood on Detroit’s eastside, which had been the site of the Winans Academy after it was the home of Dominican High School from 1940 to 2005. The building, located at 9740 McKinney Street, offers more than 89,000 square feet, including more than 59,000 square feet that will be leased by Life Remodeled’s nonprofit partners to bring afterschool youth programs, workforce development initiatives and health and wellness resources to the community.
Visitors to the website will see finalists for names, selected by a task force comprised of 12 residents, faith leaders, business owners and students, nominated by community associations. The potential names include:
- Anchor Detroit: Inspired by the iconic anchor in the Denby Tars logo of Denby High School, Anchor Detroit represents stability, resilience, hope, and strength for the Denby neighborhood and the city of Detroit at large.
- The Whit: The Whit is short for Whittier Avenue, the street on which Life Remodeled’s new opportunity hub is located. Whittier Avenue was named after John Greenleaf Whittier, an advocate for the abolition of slavery in the United States.
- Whittier Pointe: Located just a few miles away from the affluent Grosse Pointe community, Whittier Pointe represents pride and hope in a thriving, prosperous future for the Denby community. It also speaks to the potential to foster a stronger relationship between the two communities and promote equity and unity.
In addition to selecting their choice for the building’s name, visitors to the site will also be asked for basic personal information, such as their address, to verify their neighborhood connection. The site will accept votes from November 1st at 12:01 a.m. until 11:59 p.m. on November 30th.
“We are shining a spotlight on neighborhoods with stories to tell,” said Brandi Haggins, Vice President of Opportunity Hubs for Life Remodeled. “This equitable process for naming the building reflects the vision of our hubs as places created with, for and by the community.”
Life Remodeled plans to ensure the facility reaches near full capacity by the end of 2025, after a period of design and construction inside and outside of the former school building. Plans for the new hub include a significant presence for arts and culture programs, to continue the tradition of the Winans Academy and also to build upon neighborhood priorities for those programs, supporting the development of the Whittier Corridor as a destination for art and technology.
About Life Remodeled
There’s a lot of talk but not enough walk when it comes to revitalizing Detroit neighborhoods. Detroiters have all the talent they need, but many don’t have access to all the opportunities they deserve. Therefore, Life Remodeled repurposes vacant school buildings into one stop hubs of opportunity for entire families to thrive. LR fills these iconic buildings with the best and brightest nonprofit organizations who are providing youth programs, workforce development and human services to tens of thousands of students and community members. LR helps their nonprofit tenants collaborate and create far greater life transformation together than was previously possible alone. Together, they ensure more:
- Detroit students perform at/above grade level in math and reading
- Families have access to essential health and wellness services
- Community members obtain higher paying jobs and achieve economic self-sufficiency
To learn more about Life Remodeled’s Durfee Innovation Society and other programs, visit www.liferemodeled.org.
