Habitat for Hamtramck is a grassroots organization with the mission of helping to revitalize the Hamtramck area of Detroit.  Through a variety of initiatives designed to reinvigorate the community both socially and economically, Habitat for Hamtramck hopes to provide a sustainable model of urban renewal that other neighborhoods can adapt to their own districts.  One way to achieve this goal is by rehabilitating blighted houses in the community and then giving them to families that can help further the positive redevelopment of the area. Without the burden of an unaffordable mortgage payment, the recipients of the houses can focus their skills on serving the community by donating one day a week toward providing their service to the community. Ideally, these will be people such as nurses, dental hygienists, paralegals, psychologists, financial planners, or other types of skilled professionals who can provide services to the community which may otherwise be unattainable.  Additionally, another family (or multiple families) will be paid to do some of the labor to renovate the house, in the form of up to $10,000 total to be used toward the purchase and renovation of their own home(s) in the area. Under this model, the community can become repopulated with both skilled and unskilled workers at the same rate, all while cleaning up the area and making it a better place to live for the current residents as well.

***Note: This estimate reflects the purchase of  new appliances and materials of mid-range quality, as well as a generous allowance for any and all required work that needs to be done. It is likely that the actual costs associated with the rehabiliation will be significantly lower ***

            The goal of $70,000 can easily be achieved with your help, for less than the amount of change on your dresser or in your car’s ashtray. If you donate just $1, and tell three friends to do the same, then the tasks of Habitat for Hamtramck can easily be completed. Furthermore, any residual funding left over will be used for future projects or turned over to the city for use at its discretion. The only people that will make any money off of this project are the local Detroiters employed by the organization. All other help is on a volunteer basis.

            The impact of putting a family in need into a vacant house has multiple benefits. First and foremost, it puts a family that could otherwise not afford a house in a home that they own. Without the burden of a high mortgage payment, the homeowner can concentrate their energy on improving the community around them. Moreover, by filling vacant houses the community becomes safer, as it becomes one less place for crimes to occur. And when one less house is vacant on a street, it gives other people one more reason to move there.

           Overall, the concept of Habitat for Hamtramck is simple: use grassroots organization to raise the necessary funding to help revitalize the Hamtramck area of Detroit. Whether it is done by rehabilitating a vacant house and giving it to a family that can help continue the positive redevelopment of the area, the formation of a business that can put local people to work, or through other means that have yet to be conceived, Habitat for Hamtramck is dedicated to bringing Detroit back into relevance in the 21st century. Rebounding Detroit can be help rebound America, and since we have to begin somewhere, why not start around the Hamtramck area for the mere cost of a dollar?

***Habitat for Hamtramck has not yet completed the paperwork to become a government-recognized non-profit organization and at this time donations to Habitat for Hamtramck are not tax-deductible for federal income tax purposes.***

 DONATE NOW!

Paypal charges a 2.9% surcharge on all transactions, plus a $.30 flat fee. If you donate $1.33, one dollar will make it to Habitat for Hamtramck. But if you're committed to donate $1, why stop there? Think about how far $5, $10, or even $20 could go. We're giving away a house--what can you do?

I want to donate supplies, services, or something else

Re: Will Stephen Colbert Accept Habitat for Hamtramck’s Challenge?

Renata Luczak, Director

The Colbert Report

345 Hudson Street

New York, NY 10014

Attention: Renata Luczak

Habitat for Hamtramck
admin@habitatforhamtramck.org