Housing is a basic need. Homes are a way to build generational wealth.
But what happens when you’re unsure about how you’ll keep a roof over your head? If you’re facing an eviction, worried about losing your home to property tax foreclosure, need home repair or don’t have a property title in your name? All of these issues can be a complicated web and resources may not always be available at your fingertips.
BridgeDetroit’s editorial team takes a much deserved rest during this time of year. In addition to our regular news coverage, we’ve taken time to reflect on our accomplishments in 2022 and to share some of our priorities for 2023. Our editors and reporters love serving the citizens in the City of Detroit. We thank you for reading and your ongoing support of our nonprofit newsroom.
I cover economic mobility for the Detroit Free Press and BridgeDetroit, as part of Report for America, a program placing reporters in local newsrooms to cover under-reported issues and communities. One of the areas I focus on is housing.
Detroiters know all too well the devastating impact of housing instability, from tax foreclosures to evictions. We hear time and time again from readers that housing stories are important and that’s why it’s been a central thread in our coverage this year.
This year, we covered various housing barriers Detroiters face and provided practical stories on where to get help. We chronicled the push to get free legal help for Detroiters facing eviction, what homeowners and renters should know about Wayne County’s tax foreclosure process two years into the pandemic and what tenants had to say about poor living conditions. We tracked a $1 billion statewide pandemic-era rent assistance program as it came to an end and let readers know about warming centers as the temperature dropped.
But the story that stands out the most to me this year is one about how title problems can disrupt generational wealth building for Detroiters, who might be living in a family member’s home after they’ve passed. After covering tax foreclosures for months, I kept hearing about this issue and knew we had to get a story out here.
My goal is to continue honing in on housing coverage in 2023. Are we missing anything? What else should we be looking into? Let’s connect!
In case you missed it, here are some of our housing stories from this year:
City and renters fight to hold landlords accountable for poor conditions
Free legal help on the way for low-income Detroiters facing eviction
Michigan homeowners play waiting game as relief program catches up
Domestic violence survivors struggle to find housing. These advocates want to change that.