The woman on the other end of the phone told Corinne Waucaush that after fleeing her abusive partner it had been several weeks since she had a stable place to sleep. Waucaush was working to find her a place to stay and patiently guided the woman through a series of questions.
Where was she currently sleeping? In her car.
How many children did she have? Two.
Was she a recent victim of domestic violence? Yes.
Waucaush is a coordinator at a new hotline for Detroiters with housing problems, the Detroit Housing Resource HelpLine. People who need a place to stay for the night, are facing an eviction, live in a home that needs repairs or have other urgent housing needs can call Waucaush or one of 34 other specialists on the hotline. They’ll pick up the phone and do their best to help. The city created the HelpLine in May and hired Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency, commonly known as Wayne Metro, to operate it.
For assistance with housing issues in the Detroit area, the Detroit Housing Resource HelpLine can be reached at 866-313-2520. It takes calls Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m.-noon.
Detroiters need the help. Housing in the city is getting more expensive to rent, buy and maintain. Researchers estimate that right now the city could use an additional 46,000 affordable units. Tens of thousands of people are on waitlists for public housing in Detroit, much of which is in abysmal condition. Even homeowners are struggling. When a new home repair program launched last year, the office fielded nearly 200,000 calls in the first week.
Earlier this month, Outlier Media toured the HelpLine office to learn more about the services it provides and listened in on Waucaush’s call with the woman with two children. Because of privacy concerns, we weren’t permitted to listen to calls as they came in or record the woman’s name.
“Folks that need shelter tonight, we’re able to process them a lot more quickly. And then for everyone else, we no longer have to say, ‘You called the wrong place.’”
Victoria Davis, manager of Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency’s call centers and the director of its Empowerment & Integration Services department
After about 30 minutes on the phone, Waucaush found a family shelter on the westside she could refer the family to. Waucaush told the woman to check in by the end of the day. “God bless you,” the woman told her.
The ability of Detroiters to get their calls answered and consistently find help on the end of the line is a marked improvement from just a few years ago. Unhoused people looking for shelter in Detroit, Hamtramck or Highland Park used to have to rely on a system known as CAM Detroit. Clients and representatives for shelters heavily criticized the system under its previous operator, Southwest Solutions (now named MiSide). Unhoused people complained about unanswered calls and waiting hours or days for a referral.
The coordinators field nearly 3,000 calls a week collectively.
When Southwest Solutions’ contract expired in August, the city rolled that service into its more comprehensive HelpLine strategy. The city is using $20 million in one-time American Rescue Plan Act funds and $2.6 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the city to date to pay for the program. It’s enough to keep the doors open just through 2024, according to the city.
Victoria Davis manages Wayne Metro’s call centers and said anybody who calls with a housing issue can get help.
“Folks that need shelter tonight, we’re able to process them a lot more quickly,” she said. “And then for everyone else, we no longer have to say, ‘You called the wrong place.’”
HelpLine staff members are also doing more proactive outreach around the city. Wayne Metro hosts in-person events to find people who need housing help. That’s where Waucaush met the woman she called back. In January, Wayne Metro will open an intake center on the first floor of its New Center office building.
When an operator answers the phone, they first try to figure out the caller’s immediate needs. If they need someplace right away, they get connected to a CAM coordinator and placed in a shelter. People facing eviction get put in touch with free legal aid. Wayne Metro can also help with other problems like paying water bills and property taxes.
Most callers, according to Davis, have issues that aren’t quick to resolve and require a more hands-on approach. People that HUD doesn’t recognize as homeless, like those sleeping on a couch in a friend’s or family member’s home, won’t qualify for a shelter. But they could qualify for other programs. The city designed a call tree with questions to help specialists decide what services these callers could qualify for.
Thousands of people have been routed to the Detroit Housing Services office, which was launched in June. There, they can receive case management from the city to improve their finances and help them find a place they can afford. The city will put them up in temporary housing. Once they find a more permanent home the city will pay the first month’s rent and security deposit.
“Our goal is to get them placed as quickly as possible so they never have to access emergency shelter services,” said David Bowser, the city’s Chief of Housing Solutions.
Bowser said this office has capacity to help around 700 residents at any given time.
The HelpLine also directs homeowners or people on the cusp of homeownership to the Detroit Housing Network, a collection of six nonprofit organizations offering homeownership resources. These nonprofits are set up to provide financial counseling and connect people to resources that may be available, like the Downpayment Assistance program.
Chelsea Neblett, a program director in the Housing Services office, said the city plans on securing sustainable funding for the HelpLine beyond 2024 by expanding the number of programs and partners that use it.
Until then at least, the phone line will be open. And the city wants you to call.
“We really want people to understand that as you approach an issue, don’t let it fester until you have no choice but to leave,” Bowser said. “Go ahead and give us a call as early as possible so we can connect you to a resource to keep you in your house.”
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