The Detroit Home Repair Fund (DHRF) addresses the critical health and safety home repair needs of Detroit homeowners with lower incomes.
The fund aims to preserve affordable homeownership and stabilize neighborhoods in Detroit by:
- Providing flexible funding that can leverage multiple home repair resources at once.
- Comprehensively assessing repair needs and removing critical health and safety hazards through individualized home repairs.
- Bolstering the capacity of community-based organizations and non-profits working in the home repair sector, helping them better meet the needs of their communities.
Addressing an Urgent Need
There is a great need for home repair in Detroit, but existing resources are often fragmented, difficult to access, or limited in scope. Forty-three percent of Detroiters report having at least one major home repair need, and 13% live in inadequate housing, a category which includes exposed wires or electrical problems, broken furnace or heating problems, or lack of hot or running water. These conditions erode the health of Detroit families, increase displacement risk, diminish wealth building, and destabilize neighborhoods.
DHRF responds to these urgent needs. Funded by the Gilbert Family Foundation, DTE Energy, and Molina Healthcare, the program is managed by Enterprise Community Partners, supported with technical assistance from the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative, and implemented in collaboration with 13 non-profit partners.
Our non-profit partners work with participating residents to conduct a comprehensive health and safety assessment of their homes, develop a scope of work, and coordinate with contractors to complete the necessary repairs. Non-profit partners use DHRF to leverage other funding, primarily DTE’s Energy’s Energy Efficiency Assistance program funds, bringing additional resources to these households and ensuring that their needs are addressed holistically. All repairs are made at no cost to the homeowner.
