Here's Our
Over 100 years of service to our community and we’re still going strong.
Learn About Our History
The International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit (IIMD) was founded in 1919, by a group of YWCA volunteers who sought to help legal immigrants learn English, appreciate freedom and democracy, become citizens, be assimilated into their communities, and learn to understand each other's cultures. The International Institute of Detroit was one of 55 such institutes founded by the national YWCA in cosmopolitan cities all over the U.S., at a time of peak immigration into the U.S.
The International Institute movement was inspired by Jane Addams' Hull House, in Chicago (1889), and the "settlement movement" in England, including Toynbee Hall in London, founded in 1884. The first such International Institute was founded in New York City by Edith Terry Bremer, in 1911. The original International Institute of Detroit, starting in 1919, was located in a brick cottage at the corner of Adams and Witherell, in Downtown Detroit (at the site of the current Comerica Park Detroit Tigers baseball stadium). Newly arrived immigrants to Detroit were welcomed at this building, as they sat around what became a familiar fireplace in the building's living room.
“We Are dedicated to working with low-income, foreign, and native born populations in an effort to establish a more inclusive, equitable, and just society.”
Our Mission
The International Institute is dedicated to transforming the lives of low-income immigrants, refugees and U.S. born residents through innovative solutions to advancing economic mobility.
It provides and utilizes human and physical resources to advance the welfare and the integration of the foreign-born and their relatives; foster community awareness that varied cultures contribute to the richness of American life; and serve other organizations in the areas of its competence.
Over the years, the YWCA no longer sponsored the network of International Institutes. Many went out of business and others obtained new funding sponsors and resources. Other immigrant service organizations, started by religious organizations, government agencies, and charitable organizations, helped to fill the needs for newer immigrants arriving in the U.S. The International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit is one of a handful of original "International Institutes," with its roots in the YWCA, still in existence today. Below is a list of other "International Institutes" that can trace their origins back to the start of the "International Institute" movement:
Several of the original International Institutes listed above today constitute the core of the membership of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI). Learn More >
We also recognize the legacy of "Hull House," in Chicago, co-founded by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Star, in 1889, to serve immigrants as well as the native-born of Chicago to be successful and productive citizens. Hull House is no longer in business, but is today a museum to its legacy as an important part of United States history, open to public tours. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
For information on the history of Hull House, see: More on Hull House >
Also, read Twenty Years at Hull House, by Jane Addams - The complete book here > (Hull House was inspired by the "Settlement House Movement" in England, starting with Toynbee Hall, located in the East End of London, established in 1884.)
To read more about the "Settlement Movement" in England - See here >
To read more about Toynbee Hall, see: See here >