Make It Home Program

Make It Home Program is sponsored by City of Detroit, United Community Housing Coalition, Rocket Community Fund. Assists Detroit residents facing eviction due to tax foreclosure by facilitating homeownership through affordable payment plans and providing home repair support.

Rocket Community Fund » Make It Home partnership helps 181 more families become homeowners Make It Home partnership helps 181 more families become homeowners Published: October 22, 2025 Written by Ashleigh Dandridge Rocket Community Fund, United Community Housing Coalition and City of Detroit have helped over 1,700 Detroit families at risk of displacement since program launched in 2017 Tenants living in properties in foreclosure due to the owner not paying property taxes not only get to stay in their home, but also become the new owner Rocket Community Fund committed $1,160,000 in new funding to support this year’s homeowners and to provide ongoing home repair assistance to Make It Home participants DETROIT- Oct.

22, 2025, The Rocket Community Fund, Mayor Mike Duggan and the United Community Housing Coalition (UCHC) today announced that 168 more Detroit families will become homeowners through the Make It Home program this year. Most of these households are families that have been paying rent to their landlords, only to find the landlord had not been paying taxes, sending the home into tax foreclosure and putting them at risk of being displaced.

This year’s Make It Home cohort will bring more than 1,700 Detroit families that have not only avoided eviction but have become the owner of their home since the program’s launch in 2017. “Not only does the Make it Home program strengthen families, it strengthens neighborhoods,” said Mayor Duggan. “It keeps homes from going vacant and we know that when a person owns the home they live in, they tend to keep it better maintained.

I can’t thank the Rocket Community Fund and UCHC enough for making this life-changing program possible. ” Make It Home leverages the City of Detroit’s “right of refusal,” allowing the City to purchase properties before the tax foreclosure auction for the value of the back taxes owed, or two times the state equalized value (SEV) if a Claim of Interest was filed by the previous owner.

These properties are then purchased by the United Community Housing Coalition using philanthropic funding from Rocket Community Fund funds collected from prior year’s purchasers, and others.

UCHC sells the properties to the occupants through a 0% interest land contract with an affordable payment plan that enables each resident to make payments for roughly 1-2 years, depending on their circumstances, until they reach the purchase price for their property.

Upon completing their payments, they receive the deed to their property, while also gaining access to home repair grants, loans and financial counseling provided through the program. “We’re not just helping families stay in their homes, we’re empowering them with the resources and stability to invest even more deeply in their communities,” said Laura Grannemann, Executive Director, Rocket Community Fund.

“Homeownership builds both confidence and generational wealth, and, Make It Home continues to show what’s possible when we work together to remove barriers for Detroit families. ” Make It Home provides a critical lifeline to renters who face displacement because their landlords did not pay property taxes.

However, the program also supports other situations, including homes that entered tax foreclosure instead of transferring to a family member because of inadequate estate planning. Daryl Thompson was one of the first residents to take advantage of the Make It Home program in 2018. The home purchased was his childhood home in the Hubbell-Puritan neighborhood.

Thompson’s mother passed away in 2017 – a devastating loss for himself and his two brothers and sisters. Thompson is grateful the home will stay in his family. “The Make It Home program truly speaks to the heart of what we’re working to achieve in Detroit,” said Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield.

“It’s about giving families peace of mind, restoring pride in homeownership, and keeping Detroiters connected to the neighborhoods that shaped them. When we help residents stay in their homes, we are not just preserving properties; we are protecting legacies, strengthening families, and investing in the future of our city.

” Expanded Support for Home Repair For many participants in the Make It Home program, getting the deed is just the first step toward long-term stability. The Make It Home repair program was founded in 2019 to support participants who were left facing deferred maintenance from former owners.

Through grants and low-interest loans funded by the Rocket Community Fund and administered by UCHC, Make It Home participants can address critical repairs focused on health and habitability. Since 2019, 580 homes have benefitted from Make It Home-associated repair resources. This year, the Rocket Community Fund committed an additional $750,000 to the program, bringing its total support for repair funding to $4.

75 million. Comprehensive Housing Support UCHC is a Detroit nonprofit that has provided comprehensive housing assistance to low-income residents since 1973. In addition to administering the Make It Home program, the organization helps thousands of families each year to retain homeownership through workshops on City programs, such as the Homeowner Property Exemption (HOPE).

UCHC also provides legal and case management support for low-income tenants and land contract buyers facing potential eviction actions in 36 th district court. “The need for creating more homeownership opportunities for low-income Detroit households is more crucial than ever right now as funding reductions limit housing opportunities,” said Ted Phillips, Executive Director of UCHC.

“Make It Home is a great model for how this can happen, and we are thankful for the partnership of the Rocket Community Fund and the City of Detroit to enable this project to happen. ” The Rocket Community Fund aims to simplify complex and inequitable systems to ensure that every American has access to stable, healthy housing. It also invests in people and practices that provide meaningful opportunities for education and employment.

Through its For-More-Than-Profit model, the Rocket Community Fund recognizes that business and community are inextricably linked, and it purposefully harnesses team member talent, technology, policy advocacy and philanthropic resources to invest in comprehensive community development in Detroit and across the country.

Alongside financial investments, the Rocket Community Fund has organized Rocket Companies, Bedrock and other affiliated team members to provide more than one million volunteer hours nationwide, including more than 720,000 in Detroit. For more information, visit RocketCommunityFund. org.

The United Community Housing Coalition’s Mission is to help low-income residents stay in their homes and strengthen their communities, through representation, support, and ownership. United Community Housing Coalition is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization providing housing assistance to Detroit’s low-income residents. Since 1973, they have worked to keep people in their homes and secure affordable housing for those in need.

They believe that having a place to live is a basic human right and are passionate about preserving this right in our communities. Their services are provided to income-eligible families and individuals free of charge. For more information, go to uchcdetroit.

org.