This story is part of Beyond Repair, a series on Detroit’s home repair crisis — and what the city stands to lose if it doesn’t take action. Read all the reporting. 

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Detroiters will have more opportunities to apply for home repair grants this year. Mayor Mary Sheffield is proposing a 29% increase in funding, with $6.5 million expected to be spent on critical repairs like roofs, boilers and plumbing. 

The increase signals renewed attention to Detroit’s home repair crisis and could help hundreds of homeowners. But residents and housing experts say the funds are still far short of what’s needed, leaving many Detroiters living in unsafe conditions. 

“It’s a good start, I guess, is the best way to put it,” said Sam Stragand, a senior program manager at the University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions. “We were just happy to see an increase in the dedicated funds. But it, of course, won’t solve the problem.” 

Stragand noted that the repair backlog has built up over generations. “It will probably take more than a year, or even one administration, to get out of it.” 

An estimated 38,000 houses in Detroit had major home repair needs as of 2021, though some have been fixed through city and philanthropic programs. 

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For some Detroiters, repairs can’t wait 

Georgia Taylor has spent the past 22 years in her house on Detroit’s westside. She loves the wood-paneled walls, the huge yard, the three bedrooms, and the cupboard that holds family photos, obituaries and other memories. 

But the exterior is deteriorating. Her front porch, the only entrance to her home, is caving in, with loose boards and the floor tilting to the ground below. She’s fallen three times. 

Taylor, who is on disability and lives with rheumatoid arthritis, said she cannot afford the thousands of dollars needed for repairs. The siding is crumbling, and holes have formed in the roof. Recent winds made things worse, tearing more material loose. 

“I would love to stay here and get help with changing it, turning it back into what it was, so I can be proud of it again,” Taylor said, “so I won’t have to be worried about nobody hurting themselves or me hurting myself.” 

Taylor calls her house “my heart” — but worries she may have to sell soon if she doesn’t get help. 

Taylor is one of thousands of Detroit homeowners seeking help for repairs they can’t afford. 

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Sheffield plans to spend more, shifts strategy 

At $6.5 million, the Sheffield administration’s spending plan for the Critical Home Repair program would cover fixes for about 260 homes, assuming $25,000 per house. 

“We anticipate that we’ll be able to repair more homes than that in the coming year,” said Julie Schneider, director of the Housing and Revitalization Department.

Critical Home Repair and the city’s lead remediation program, LeadSafe Housing, each have unspent money rolling over from the current fiscal year. With that carryover, proposed spending for both programs next year is $9.5 million — more than double this year’s outlay. 

Schneider said the city is also overhauling how residents apply for help. 

Instead of maintaining a waitlist that stretched into the thousands, Detroit will open applications for two weeks, twice a year, and prioritize applicants with the greatest need. 

“It allows us to kind of line things up in a way that we’re able to go faster,” Schneider said. The goal is to deliver help to residents within six to nine months of being approved. 

The most recent home repair application closed Sunday. 

For residents like Taylor, the changes offer hope but not a guarantee. 

“We’ve been living here all this time,” she said. “This is where we spend our money, this is where we shop. This is where we choose to live. This is where our kids are growing up. 

“They should at least try to pay back into us, the ones that are still here.” 

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