A Detroit nonprofit focused on wellness for moms and families in Grixdale Farms is closed after an early morning fire Friday damaged the house it operates out of. 

Hitha Healing House serves as a community hub for health and wellness, with an emphasis on maternal health for pregnant moms and babies, said founder Kayana Sessoms. 

“We are devastated about this right now, because we were just planning last night for our programming for 2026 and the right work that we are expanding in the community,” she told BridgeDetroit Friday afternoon outside the house.

There were no injuries, and no one is currently living in the house, which operates as a day center where 12 practitioners offer classes on childbirth, meditation, massage and more services. 

Detroit’s Fire Investigation Division was on the scene Friday, and the cause remains under investigation, Detroit Fire Department spokeswoman Corey McIssac said. The fire was reported around 5 a.m. and crews were on the scene in less than four minutes. By 7 a.m., the blaze was out and the scene was cleared.

The work Hitha House does is significant because Black mothers face higher risks during pregnancy due to systemic disparities in health care.  Black mothers continue to die at nearly three times the rate of other groups, Dr. Sonia Hassan, leader of the Synergy Of Scholars for Maternal and Infant Health Equity, said in an April report. 

Sessoms said healing rooms, wellness materials and restorative space inside was lost or severely damaged. Extensive damage could be seen from outside of the house, particularly on the side with the chimney, and on the back porch. 

Sessoms started the nonprofit in 2022 and opened the center more than a year and a half ago. Since then, she said, hundreds of people have come through the doors to attend classes or conferences.

“Our primary program is called Nurturing Roots, where we provide free and holistic services, from massage to energy medicine to counseling, to nutrition support, to diapers, medical needs, all kinds of things,” she said. “We have 42 folks in that program from this year and last year, when we started back in June.”

In addition to the Hitha House, Sessoms said the nonprofit is currently rehabbing a home two doors down to serve as a shelter for unhoused moms. With the damage to the primary property, there are now real concerns for being able to finish the project, she said. 

“So this is really not a home, it’s a sanctuary,” she said.

For now, Sessoms has started a Go Fund Me to raise $5,000 in support of the reconstruction of the space, replacement of wellness materials and expansion of safety infrastructure. 

She said the nonprofit will still work with community members during the closure, offering support groups, mother circles and healing sessions through virtual and pop-up satellite locations. Also, the organization will still provide ongoing care navigation and crisis support. 

“You can burn down a structure, but you can’t burn down a purpose and a mission, right?” she said. “So that can’t be taken away from the families that we serve, from the babies that we serve, from the mothers that we love on like that. That doesn’t stop.”