The City of Detroit announces the establishment of a new city office that helps Detroiters facing displacement from housing emergencies get connected to stable housing.
The Detroit Housing Services (DHS) office, developed and administered by the Housing and Revitalization Department and comprised of 88 City of Detroit staff members, will provide direct case management assistance to Detroiters, helping displaced residents navigate often complex re-housing processes.
The office provides residents facing housing emergencies the following services:
- Assistance with collecting vital documents like birth certificates and IDs so residents can successfully apply for housing
- Assistance with finding, applying to, and moving into stable, affordable, and permanent housing
- Financial assistance to cover the costs of moving
- Assistance with employment so residents can remain housed once successfully relocated
The Detroit Housing Services office is one of over 25 housing programs and partnerships available through the newly launched Detroit Housing Resource HelpLine at 866-313-2520.
“New affordable housing is being built across the city and thousands more units are being preserved, but navigating the process is nearly impossible for most people,” said Mayor Mike Duggan. “Thanks to President Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act, our Housing & Revitalization Department has built out an entire team dedicated to the single purpose of helping Detroiters find and access affordable housing.”
The HelpLine will be staffed Monday through Friday, 9AM to 5PM. When residents call 866-313-2520, they speak to a member of the Detroit Housing Resource HelpLine and will be directed to the resources for which they are eligible based on their housing needs.
Creation of the Detroit Housing Services office was a major part of the $203 million affordable housing plan announced last year by Mayor Duggan, along with the Housing and Revitalization Department and Detroit City Council members Mary Waters, Angela Whitfield Calloway, Latisha Johnson, and Gabriela Santiago-Romero.
“Some of the most common phone calls our department receives are from residents who are at risk of becoming homeless and are struggling to find safe, affordable housing options,” said Julie Schneider, director of the Housing and Revitalization Department. “Now, residents facing severe housing instability will have one-on-one assistance from City staff who will support them through these difficult moments and help them find a permanent place to call home.”
The Detroit Housing Services Office will be housed in the Ca’Maya Davis Resource Center at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center. The office’s home is named after Ca’Maya Davis, an eleven-month-old baby who tragically drowned in Detroit in 2018 when she fell through a hole in the floor of the abandoned house in which her mother sought shelter because she believed she had nowhere else to go.
“We have a sacred duty to protect our babies,” said Detroit Councilwoman At-Large Mary Waters. “Now mothers in a housing crisis such as Ca’Maya’s mother can call the Ca’Maya Davis Family Resource Center and receive what may well be life-saving assistance.”
Waters sponsored creation of the Ca’Maya Davis Family Resource Center to offer Detroiters a one-stop safety net shop for all housing issues including emergency housing.
Along with responding to resident concerns, Detroit Housing Services will deploy a city team to perform door-to-door outreach to occupied, foreclosed homes, often without utility access, to connect households to more safe, secure, and permanent housing options. A separate team responds to multi-unit building fires in Detroit, ensuring that impacted residents receive immediate rehousing assistance. The office also contains Housing Navigation and Inventory Development teams, charged with building relationships with area landlords in order to establish a database of viable housing options, which the program’s households can apply to with direct assistance from one-one-one case management staff.
“We strongly believe that a housing emergency should not result in homelessness for Detroit residents,” said David Bowser, associate director of the Housing and Revitalization Department. “By providing a continuum of teams and programs within the Detroit Housing Services office, we can meet residents where they are, bridging long-standing gaps between residents and resources. We know that the tailored, one-on-one case management approach is crucial and effective in properly assessing and addressing the needs of Detroit residents experiencing housing crises.”