Home Repair Fund: Need for fixes could range from $5B to $20B in Detroit

A home repair program, designed to help 1,000 Detroiters, has a waitlist of more than 14,000 residents.

The Detroit Home Repair Fund, a $20 million program funded by the Gilbert Family Foundation, DTE Energy and health care organization ProMedica, was created in 2022 to help Detroiters access repair resources through a network of nonprofits. Most residents on the waitlist — which is now closed — were notified in January that the program would not be able to help them this year and received information about other options.

The overwhelming response, program officials say, exceeded expectations. The response illustrates the demand for home repair assistance across Detroit, where several programs exist but have not been enough to satisfy the need for help.

Detroiter Toyia Watts received a letter in January from the Detroit Home Repair Fund letting her know that she would not be able to receive repair support from the program in 2024. She said there’s a confusing array of home repair resources, but not enough funds to address the need.

“You give people hope and we wait and we wait and we wait,” said 69-year-old Watts.

She needs electrical and plumbing work in her Islandview home. Home repair is crucial and urgent, she said, and residents need help with fixing roofs, weatherization and electrical and plumbing work.

The Detroit Home Repair Fund has provided home repairs to more than 160 homeowners and is working through its waitlist as community partners, including nonprofits and community development organizations, are able to take on more clients. This year, the program estimates that it can help 200 to 300 households from the waitlist or who were referred by community partners.

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‘The need is so great’

Between May 2022 and October 2023, the home repair fund’s hotline received more than 295,000 total calls — many of which were repeat callers and people deemed ineligible. It received 125,000 phone calls within the first 24 hours of its launch.

“The need is so great and we were absolutely not expecting the incredible avalanche of outreach that we got,” said Laura Grannemann, executive director of the Gilbert Family Foundation.

The breadth of repair needs in Detroit are vast and available programs have been difficult to tap into or have long waitlists.

The Detroit Home Repair Fund aims to bring different resources together and make needed repairs to the whole home, instead of parts of it. While some programs offer individual upgrades, such as new roofs, porches or electric stoves, the fund does a home inspection and then addresses the identified problems by working with a network of providers.

“The reality is the system is just extremely fragmented and it's not working for Detroiters and so, by building this program, our hope is to be able to bridge multiple resources together in a way that feels more seamless to the Detroit resident,” Grannemann said.

An estimated 37,630 Detroit households live in "inadequate" conditions, according to a 2021 report from the University of Michigan's Detroit Metro Area Communities Study. That might include a home with exposed wiring or electrical issues, a broken furnace or no running water.

“This is probably a five (billion) to $20 billion issue in the city of Detroit — there just is a lot of need,” Grannemann said.

The city used a portion of its COVID-19 pandemic relief aid to address home repairs. The Renew Detroit program, backed by $45 million in federal and state funds, received 12,621 applications in total within two phases of when people could apply, according to a 2023 program audit. Renew Detroit can repair 2,000 homes, including roof and window work.

The program is slated to repair 1,101 roofs this year and 588 in 2025. Last year, it renovated 311 roofs.

Next steps for home repair program

Grannemann said people who received letters are not taken off the waitlist. They are encouraged to apply to other programs. Those include: the City of Detroit’s 0% Interest Home Repair Loan Program; DTE for nonworking furnace, hot water heaters or refrigerators by calling the utility at 866-796-0512 and the City of Detroit’s Housing Resource Helpline at 866-313-2520.

“We just wanted to be open and transparent with them — that if they're waiting on an urgent home repair need, it's likely not going to happen from the Detroit Home Repair Fund by December,” she said.

Residents selected for home repairs from the program will be notified by a community partner, which will inspect the home. It’s unclear when that will happen because of overwhelming demand, according to an FAQ. Timing is also based on the type and severity of the repair needs. The Detroit Home Repair Fund does not anticipate reopening its waitlist.

The program does not have an end date and organizers are fundraising to continue it beyond the original three years to help more people.

Repairs are tailored to those who live in the home, such as children or people with disabilities, said Evy Zwiebach, director of policy and programs for Enterprise Community Partners in Detroit, which is managing the Detroit Home Repair Fund. There's a high need among seniors who need repair work, she said.

Detroiter Lawrence Sweet’s home got some much-needed upgrades through the Detroit Home Repair Fund program.

His west side home — which he has lived in for 50 years — had a leaky roof, the basement flooded and some lights did not work. He worried about water damage on his carpet leading to mold. Sweet, a 75-year-old retiree, is on a fixed income and wouldn’t have been able to afford the repairs himself.

He applied for the program in 2022 and received word that he was accepted last October. The work wrapped up two weeks ago, he said. The program replaced his roof, added downspouts to his gutters, fixed a jammed front door and installed lighting in the bathroom and another room, along with other upgrades. The estimated total cost was $15,770.

“I want to feel comfortable just like anyone else,” Sweet said.

Contact Nushrat Rahman: nrahman@freepress.com; 313-348-7558. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @NushratR.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 14,000 Detroiters sought home repair from program meant to help 1,000