Jerjuan Howard’s love for his community shines bright.
The 26-year-old Detroit westsider is transforming a long-abandoned building on Puritan Avenue into the Howard Family Bookstore — a space he envisions as a hub for books, coffee, and connection, grounded in literacy, local history, and empowerment.
Just blocks from his middle school and childhood home, which his grandparents purchased in 1939, the bookstore is Howard’s latest commitment to revitalizing his neighborhood — but far from his first.
“This area always meant something to me,” Howard says. “I wanted to do something for the community.”
Howard has already made his mark in the area, having founded the nonprofit Umoja Debate League to help local youth build public speaking skills and leading the creation of Umoja Village, a garden and outdoor community space around the corner from the bookstore.
Now, his commitment to uplifting his neighborhood is taking new shape — and he hopes it will inspire others to see that with hard work and dedication, they can make a difference in their own communities too.
“I want it to be a space where people can come, meet, and talk amongst each other, to discuss plans for their area,” Howard says. “I want it to build community, increase literacy, and become a neighborhood hub.”
With five schools within a mile and a half of the bookstore, making reading accessible for local youth is a central mission of the project. Howard wants his bookstore to fill that void for book lovers, field trips, and anyone interested in the area’s history.
“Literacy rates in Detroit are low, not just among students, but adults too,” he says. “Their parents need programs that are going to help them, and this neighborhood just needs to spark.”
Since purchasing the building in June, Howard has hit the ground running with renovations. He envisions the Howard Family Bookstore with a gallery-like atmosphere, brightened by books and local art, and featuring unique details like bookshelves and counters made from a repurposed tree outside.
The space will offer more than books, hosting community events like adult spelling bees, poetry nights, and comic book workshops. The store will also sell coffee, tea, healthy juices, and roses from a forthcoming Umoja flower garden, with rooftop seating for visitors to drink, read, and connect while overlooking the neighborhood.
Perhaps the most unique feature will be a virtual reality room that transports visitors to 1950s Puritan Avenue, when the area was bustling with life. A nearby funeral home was once a Honda dealership, a neighboring church used to be a bar, and an arcade once stood across the street.
“People don’t know these things, but with the virtual reality headset, you get to literally walk the streets of this area,” Howard says. “It kind of inspires folks that the area can be back where it once was, if not better.”
While Howard was initially uncertain about naming the bookstore after his family, he saw it as a special tribute to their deep roots and legacy in Detroit.
“I thought it was important to honor everybody that came before me,” he says. “They deserve to have their name stamped on something that’s gonna be here for a while, forever.”
His family, along with local community members, are super excited about the project.
“I talked to Mr. Thomas over there, who’s owned that barber shop since 1970, he’s jumping for joy that somebody’s doing something with this property, somebody young too,” Howard says. “The neighbors, they come and help out… It’s all love. Everybody’s looking forward to the bookstore.”
Howard plans to open the Howard Family Bookstore in early spring 2025.
“I think in Detroit, people have a lot more power than they realize,” he says. “Sometimes it just seems so far-fetched to make change in our own areas, where we’ve been living all our lives. But for them to see someone who’s still young, who grew up in this area — who dresses, walks, talks like a Black 26-year-old Detroit man — it hopefully inspires others to do the same in their area. That’s the real end goal.”
He adds, “People think that they have to just accept the conditions of an area, abandoned buildings, blight, or whatever they might have an issue with, but they don’t have to accept that. We can change our conditions if we put our heads together.”
Updates and more information can be found @howardfamilybookstore on Instagram.
