Aid Offered to Revitalize Detroit Jewish Community
Like many suburban Detroit Jews, Jacob Smith’s family has deep roots in city neighborhoods that once thrived with Jewish merchants, synagogues and culture.
The 23-year-old entrepreneur said he’d like to help re-establish a vibrant Jewish community in the now half-empty and mostly black city.
He is among a group of young, suburban Jewish professionals attracted to the vitality and excitement of Detroit’s evolving downtown and hopes to be selected for a program that would pay $250 per month toward his rent for a year if he moves into Detroit’s downtown or Midtown.
“You hear so many people complain about how Detroit can’t be fixed, but they don’t do anything about it,” said Smith, a University of Michigan business school graduate and owner of an energy consulting business. “I think there is a group of young people doing something about it. I want to be part of that. It doesn’t seem that crazy to me. I’m actually excited to be part of the revitalization of Detroit.”