The Detroit Association of Black Organizations

The Detroit Association of Black Organizations, Inc.

The Detroit Association of Black Organizations (DABO) has been meeting community needs of Black Detroiters since 1979. For 44 years, DABO has actively met the needs of its community, adapting and innovating services and programs to improve the quality of life of its community members. The Capital Project is new construction of a one-story building (11950 Grand River), a renovation, new roof, and addition of a former library (9928 Grand River, known as the Bridge Center), a new roof on another building (12000 Grand River) and new roof, parking lot repavement, and renovation of the entryway at the main headquarters (12048 Grand River). This project was developed by DABO and its community members over the course of years of adapting its programming to best meet the needs of the community within the space it had available. 

The Capital Project will fundamentally center DABO’s programming without overextending the existing space. Currently administrative staff is spread out across three sites and/or working remotely due to limitations in space. Many weekly and daily program activities have to be limited due to the space limitation.

The Capital Project will:

• Build a new one story building at 11950 Grand River where administrative offices will be held, as well as youth programming and prevention programming.
• Replace the roofs of three buildings: 9928, 12000, and 12048 W. Grand River that are 123, 100 and 83 years old respectively. This is good long-term care for the infrastructure.
• Create an addition to 9928 W. Grand River that will provide extended space for storage of chairs and tables so that community space is accessible full time for whatever size crowd. Currently, that space is occupied by whatever number of people attending the event and is crowded with 200 chairs because there is no space to keep them. This will remedy that situation and provide adequate storage of the 200 chairs. This addition requires a new stairwell to the basement and some basement repair. 
• Renovate the parking lots at 12048 and 9928 W. Grand River. Renovating parking lots increases safety, reducing the risk of accidents or injuries caused by cracks or impressions in the pavement. 
• Renovate the entrance at 12048 W. Grand River. DABO’s main headquarters houses much of its programming. The entrance renovation will add a second set of doors at the entryway to reduce exposure to the elements as well as add more space for an adequate waiting room and expanding space for the Clinic to operate. 
• Reface the exterior walls of 12048 W. Grand River.