The International Institute building is located on the corner of E. Kirby and John R, just east of Woodward Avenue, across Kirby from the Detroit Institute of Arts, in the heart of Detroit’s vibrant Midtown/University – Cultural Center District. For more information, please fill out the .
The International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit (IIMD) was founded in Detroit in 1919 by a group of YWCA volunteers, who sought to help legal immigrants learn English, appreciate freedom and democracy, become U.S. citizens, be assimilated into their new communities, and learn to understand each other’s cultures. The International Institute is today a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, located in Detroit’s vibrant University-Cultural Center/Midtown District, that offers a variety of legal and educational services and programs to assist immigrants become productive and patriotic U.S. citizens, while preserving the language, culture, food, music, dance, costumes, and heritage of their native countries from around the world. Our building houses the award-winning “International Cafe” restaurant; display cases housing the Ethel Averbach International Doll Collection, the world’s largest collection of dolls (over 2,500) dressed in international native costumes; the Lawrence ScrippsWilkinson Immigrant Model Ship Collection; the Lucille and Marshall Miller International Artifact Collection, the “Hall of Nations” auditorium with flags from around the world; as well as classrooms and offices to carry out our many programs. The International Institute has been accredited by the U.S. Department of Justice, Board of Immigration Appeals, since 1958. It has also been accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Services for Families and Children, Inc., since 1990.
The International Institute is a member organization or otherwise associated with the following: