The Kresge Foundation has opened a new office in the heart of Detroit's Midtown neighborhood, a move that will bring five new jobs into the city.
The Troy-based foundation has renovated 2,500-square-feet of office space in the Woodward Garden Block development. The new office will face Woodward Avenue, a few blocks north of Martin Luther King Boulevard, above the Midtown Detroit Inc. offices and the Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Company. Detroit craftspeople created amenities such as desks and a conference table made from wood reclaimed from other buildings in and around the city.
"Having a presence in Detroit reaffirms our longstanding commitment to the health and vitality of the city," says Rip Rapson, president of
The Kresge Foundation. "Detroit is central to our identity."
The office space provides a home base for the national philanthropic organization's Detroit-centric programs, which work with nonprofits, community groups, businesses and government agencies across the city. The foundation's contributions work toward creating long-term economic opportunity, advancing social equity, promoting cultural expression, and re-establishing the city as the center of a vibrant southeast Michigan.
Detroit-centric causes make up about 20 percent of The Kresge Foundation's giving each year. Its portfolio of work in the Motor City includes partnerships with the likes of
NextEnergy,
Eastern Market Corp,
WARM Training Center, and the
Detroit Riverfront Conservancy to transform Detroit into a desirable, green city. The Kresge Foundation is also working to promote entrepreneurial development through support for the
New Economy Initiative funder collaborative.
"(The new Detroit office) connects us to the energy of the city and the energy in Midtown in particular," Rapson says.
Source: Rip Rapson, president of The Kresge Foundation
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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