In 2023, we made a $10 million investment in the Detroit Housing Network (DHN) as part of our efforts to increase housing stability, affordable homeownership opportunities, and economic mobility for Detroit residents.

This landmark investment helped scale existing DHN services and develop new programs over a three-year period, ultimately creating a streamlined “front door” for housing services through the Detroit Housing Resource HelpLine. This was a partnership between the City of Detroit, Gilbert Family Foundation, and CHN Housing Partners that established a centralized hotline connecting Detroiters to vital housing resources including foreclosure counseling, home repair services, homebuyer preparation, and eviction defense assistance, as well as access to information and eligibility for the Detroit Tax Relief Fund, Detroit Home Repair Fund and the Detroit Eviction Defense Fund and other housing services.

Through this collaboration, neighborhood-based housing service providers can share workflows and information through a unified intake system, dramatically simplifying how residents access essential housing assistance. Last year, we worked with DHN to raise awareness and streamline the Homeowners Property Tax Exemption (HOPE) Program. Now, all HOPE community partners are part of DHN’s extensive network, ensuring more Detroiters can access the all the services they need.

“This partnership has helped make key housing programs like the Homeowners Property Exemption (HOPE) program more accessible to Detroiters,” explains Libby Palackdharry, director of operations at CHN Housing Partners, which manages DHN. “Not only are we simplifying the HOPE application process, but we are asking applicants about other household needs and sharing those resources with them as they come available, ultimately increasing their ability to be economically mobile.”

In the video below, Darnell Adams, our Vice President of Detroit Community Initiatives, explains why DHN is such an important system for identifying and supporting Detroiter’s housing needs.

 

 

Our partnership with DHN has continued to evolve. Most recently, we partnered with DHN to support Culture Pass Detroit, a program offering eligible Detroit families free access to the city’s premier arts and cultural institutions. This ties into our deeper strategy to build opportunity for Detroiters. It starts with protecting residents who are at risk of eviction or losing their homes to tax foreclosure. Once they are safely housed, we work to connect these residents to resources and services that will help build wealth and access economic opportunity. At the same time, we build upon this work with investments in the community through public spaces and arts and cultural institutions, to support social bonds and connections within neighborhoods. DHN helped us identify 304 Detroit families who could benefit from free memberships to these institutions, ensuring wraparound support that touches on all aspects of our mission.

We are excited to continue partnering with DHN to better understand the needs of our community, which will inform our strategy in building opportunity for Detroiters.

To learn more about eligibility for housing and other critical resources in Detroit, contact the Detroit Housing Resource HelpLine at 866-313-2520.