The $20 million Detroit Home Repair Fund will bring critical repairs to Detroit homeowners. // Stock Photo
The Gilbert Family Foundation, ProMedica, and DTE Energy along with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan today unveiled the Detroit Home Repair Fund (DHRF), which will build capacity for nonprofit partners to provide low-income Detroit homeowners with critical home repairs.
The organizations have jointly committed more than $20 million to the DHRF over the next three years. The program is expected to serve more than 1,000 Detroit homeowners, with no minimum or maximum spend on each home.
One of the goals of the DHRF is to holistically address Detroit housing stability by leveraging multiple home repair resources all at once. As a result, the first track of DHRF will be available to community partners already working with DTE Energy’s Energy Efficiency Assistance (EEA) Program.
Eligible recipients are owner-occupied Detroit homeowners with income at or below the 200 percent of the federal poverty line who have applied for the 2022 Homeowner Property Exemption (HOPE). Interested Detroit residents can call (313) 306-2082 to inquire about the DHRF.
“Stable housing is about more than a place to live, it is about ensuring residents and their families feel safe and secure in their home,” says Jennifer Gilbert, co-founder of the Gilbert Family Foundation, which is investing $10 million to launch the initiative.
“We are proud to create the Detroit Home Repair Fund alongside dedicated partners who share our belief that Detroit homeowners should have access to critical repairs and the fulfilling home environment they deserve.”
ProMedica, a national health and well-being organization based in Toledo, says it is committed to transforming the health care system through strategic investments in scaling social determinants of health work. ProMedica is committing to raise $8 million for this effort through its Impact Fund, launched in 2021 to mobilize investment in social determinants of health and health care systems change.
“There is already significant evidence that healthier, safer homes are critical for people to be healthy and to spend more time at school, work, and with loved ones and less time in the hospital,” says Randy Oostra, president and CEO of ProMedica. “We’re excited to partner with the Gilbert Family Foundation and DTE Energy in the Detroit Home Repair Fund to provide comprehensive healthy housing services for Detroit homeowners.”
A 2020 report by the University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions found that approximately 8,500 owner-occupied homes in Detroit are “inadequate or severely inadequate,” as defined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s American Housing Survey (AHS). This instability creates a negative cycle that erodes the health of Detroit families and threatens the preservation of generational wealth.
People living in unsafe, unhealthy homes are at greater risk of developing health conditions like asthma, suffering injuries from trips and falls, and struggling to pay utilities bills.
The DHRF aims to provide many of these Detroit homeowners with the necessary improvements to …….