We’re a registered non-profit dedicated to repurposing abandoned Detroit structures to house the homeless. We’re out to end homelessness in Detroit and revitalize the city’s neglected neighborhoods. Here’s our plan:
This is a project for the Detroit community, so we want to draw our support from that community and everyone else who wants to help. For this reason, we’re going to use crowdfunding to raise our goal of $80,000.
We estimate that with $80,000 we’re going to be able to purchase a large unused home, bring that home into good repair, and provide for its inhabitants until they can begin to provide for themselves.
Aside from providing for housing and other basic needs, we also intend to help with job search. Past that point, though, we believe that those we service will be able to provide for themselves for two reasons: 1) We think that by setting up a communal living situation, the inhabitants of our house will be able to support each other; a model that has worked with similar housing-first projects in Portland, Seattle, and Salt Lake City. 2) We plan to find those individuals who will be in the position to provide for themselves. Though we’d love to service the entire homeless community, limited resources are just that, limiting. So initially, we’re sticking to the simplest situations.
Though we’re impressed with the great work that Detroit metro-area homeless shelters do, our mission is a little different: we want to work with them, and take over where they leave off. They succeed in the first step, they get people off the streets for the night, but we want to get people off the streets permanently. Our ultimate goal is to put our tenants in a position to move out and continue their lives independently.
We’re interested in working with any organization or company with a similar mission, or in any way willing to help. Even more so, we’re interested in working with any individuals willing to help. Feel free to reach out!