A Michigan Marine veteran's story traces a move from an abandoned Detroit school to a downtown apartment. The account offers a stark before-and-after contrast.
The FOX 2 Detroit video report follows a Michigan Marine veteran's move from an abandoned Detroit school to a downtown apartment.
How VOA Michigan Structures Its Veteran Program
VOA Michigan says veterans in the state are referred to its program specifically to support the move from homelessness into stable housing, according to the organization's own program page. Once enrolled, the nonprofit says it provides case management, employment and income assistance, art therapy, special events and activities, and other wrap-around services designed to keep veterans housed long-term. The program operates out of a Detroit location at 253 E. Milwaukee, per VOA Michigan's listing.
That kind of support matches what another Michigan veteran, Kyle Jackson, described after he became homeless when a COVID-19 outbreak hit his apartment building. Jackson, who was 38 at the time, said the organization lodged him in a hotel during a quarantine period before helping him secure a new Detroit apartment. “They lodged me in a hotel and I was in quarantine isolation for several months while they helped find me an apartment in Detroit to live,” Jackson told the station in a separate report.
A Citywide Push Against Veteran Homelessness
Detroit's broader numbers on veteran homelessness show real movement, even as the overall homelessness picture has grown more complicated. The city reduced veteran homelessness by roughly 60 percent after joining the Built For Zero initiative in 2015, according to Reasons to Be Cheerful. The outlet reported that Detroit's homeless-veteran count fell from a high of 348 in January 2017 to 104 by April 2023.
That same report profiled Air Force veteran Josephus Anderson, who moved to Detroit in 2022 without a secure place to live and later received housing support through VOA Michigan and related programs. Hoodline has reported on his road from homelessness to giving back, describing Army veteran Rudy Gadison, who fell behind on rent after his enlistment ended and later began working with the same organization that once helped him.
New Housing on the Horizon, Overall Numbers Still Murky
Detroit is also adding dedicated veteran housing stock through a larger redevelopment project. Officials broke ground in April on a $31 million project converting the long-vacant former St. Mary of Redford school into 61 units of permanent supportive housing, according to MLive. Ten of those units are reserved specifically for veterans, and the outlet reported that Volunteers of America Michigan is leading the development, pairing housing with on-site services such as case management and mental health care.
Hoodline reported that Detroit's 2024 Point-in-Time count showed a 16 percent rise in homelessness from the prior year.
Against that backdrop, the Marine veteran's move from an abandoned school building to a downtown apartment offers a concrete example of a change in circumstances. His story adds to a growing list of Detroit veterans facing housing struggles.
