DETROIT, MI- As Quicken Loans Inc. founder and chairman Dan Gilbert attempts to draw 13,000 interns to downtown Detroit, General Motors Co. is doing its part to help its hometown.

The Detroit-based automaker, which had more than 500 interns and co-ops nationally this past summer, assigned one group of students to live downtown for the first time in the company’s history.

"It's another move to show GM supports the city, and to also show our students that we can provide close, comfortable housing," GM Human Resources Manager Jann Dagg, who oversees the company's "experimental learning program" for interns, told MLive.com in July.

About 30 interns occupied more than 20 apartments in the newly renovated Detroit City Apartments, 1431 Washington Blvd. in Detroit. GM paid for the housing, which primarily ranged from two to four people in two-bedroom apartments.

Editor's note

As Michigan's economy continues to rebound, internships are proving to be a key way for students to prepare themselves for the job market and for employers to develop a pipeline of talent. From Dec. 24-30, MLive.com will publish articles on internships at major employers, initiatives by economic development groups, and a survey of what employers are looking for in interns. This is a topic that reporters will be revisiting throughout the year. Find full coverage here.

Bill Powers, a 21-year-old from Elon University, worked with Cadillac communications. He said he was hesitant about living downtown, but quickly adapted to the city.

“I was pretty skeptical at first with the thought of going to Detroit with all the stories you hear about crime and things like that,” he said. “I was also really scared because I’ve heard it was one of the most dangerous cities, but I don’t know, I feel safe here.”

Powers was one of a handful of interns who spoke to MLive in July about how living downtown helped change their opinions of the city. The interns ranged from homegrown children of GM employees to international students.

Ana Maria Cruz, a Penn State University student from Columbia, said she was extremely hesitant about moving to downtown Detroit, but found it to be surprisingly different than what she thought it would be like.

“I was also really scared because I’ve heard it was one of the most dangerous cities, but … I feel safe here,” she said, adding one of her favorite things was the People Mover.

A number of the interns took the People Mover every day to and from work.

Dagg said the goal of GM's internship program is for the students to come in and do the same types of work a full-time employee would be doing.

“It aims to give them a real taste of the business world and what it’s like to work here on a daily basis,” she said, adding many of the interns are offered positions at GM.

Syracuse University student Kyle Suba and University of Michigan student Brandi Patrick lived together this past summer, and hope they can do the same in 2013.

Patrick, who had interned with GM before, lived in Detroit until she was 10 years old, and never thought she’d go back after her family moved to the suburbs.

“I like living in the city a lot more than I thought I would,” she said. “I never thought I would want to move back into the city.”

One of the only things that interns said was troublesome about living in Detroit was the lack of mainstream grocery stores. However, new stores, including Meijer, Whole Foods and the newly opened Ye Olde Butcher Shoppe should help.

Dagg said with the positive responses from the first class of Detroit interns, the automaker plans to continue using downtown as housing for the students.

“We’ve been very pleased,” she said. “We fully anticipate using downtown Detroit to house students going forward.”

Students can apply for GM internships through the Student Center on its careers website.