Jun 25, 2014
Zaman Plans New Center
DEARBORN — Zaman International, a nonprofit organization that has called Dearborn its home for 10 years, will be relocating to a larger building in Inkster for its new Hope for Humanity Center.
Zaman, which serves marginalized women and children in metro Detroit, purchased the 40,500 square-foot building at 26091 Trowbridge Street, the former Livernois Engineering Building, for $525,000 to serve as the organization’s new headquarters and center of operations.
“The building will allow people to come to us as well as us to go to them,” said Najah Bazzy, founder and executive director of Zaman.
She said the new location, south of Michigan Avenue and west of Beech Daly Road, is close enough to the current location, 5203 Schaefer Road, for Zaman’s clients to follow the organization after the move. Zaman’s operations are also often on the ground, she said, by way of delivering food, clothing, furniture and other essential daily needs to its clients.
The new center will consolidate six operating locations into one facility and will continue to serve all of Zaman’s clients whether in Dearborn, Detroit, Hamtramck, Taylor, or Wyandotte, Bazzy said.
“Our overall goal is to have a one-stop place for our clients where they can avoid being referred here and there,” she said.
The center will include space for administrative offices, a generously sized food pantry, clothing recycling and distribution and furniture donation programs.
“This is the first time that clients can come forward and have a choice about what they get,” she said. “Everyone wants to be able to choose. They can come and pick out their clothes for their kids and food for themselves.”
The plan also includes expanding Zaman’s services, like a vocational training area where women can learn skills like sewing, while allowing room for the non-profit to grow as new needs emerge. The purchase includes a 18,000 square foot parking lot across the street from the main building, which could eventually be used for future expansion.
Bazzy’s dream for the space also includes young people, who already participate in Zaman’s programs through its programs K.E.E.P. (Kids for Equity, Equality and Peace) and L.E.A.P. (Leaders Engaging in Active Peace).
“My goal is to renovate it in such a way that it becomes a nonprofit destination place,” she said.
Young people should have an educational experience at the building that will develop a passion for philanthropy and global consciousness, she said.
The organization is currently raising funds for a renovation of the building. Zaman is planning a community iftar, the meal eaten by Muslims at the time of breaking fast, and fund-raising dinner at the building July 5. The proceeds will go toward the new center.
“We’ll be moving in slowly after the first of August and I’m hoping to renovate by our 10th anniversary, which is November 23,” she said.
The building is not in terrible shape, but Bazzy said she’ll have a better idea of the cost of the project after an architect looks at the building this week.