In 1933, the City of Detroit established the Detroit Housing Commission (“DHC”) under the Michigan Housing Facilities Act. Throughout the DHC’s 89 year history, our mission has been to provide safe, decent, and affordable housing for the low and moderate-income people that we serve. DHC is one of the largest owner of rental housing in the City of Detroit (“City”), providing approximately 4,000 housing units for seniors and families.
In the 1930’s, the DHC began construction of its first Low-Income Public Housing development, and construction continued through 1982 with the completion of Sheridan Place. In the early 1990’s, the DHC was awarded HOPE VI Grants to revitalize three of its most severely distressed Low-Income Public Housing developments, i.e., Parkside Homes (Villages at Parkside II and IV), Jeffries Homes (Woodbridge Estates) and Herman Gardens (Gardenview).
The properties developed with the HOPE VI grants depict the future vision of the DHC and public housing. The new mixed-finance, mixed-income developments were funded through partnerships between the DHC and private developers. The developments serve DHC residents and private sector residents without distinction regarding income. The DHC plans to create 2,500 more affordable housing units over the next five years using this financing approach.
In addition, to operating a Low-Income Public Housing Program, the DHC also operates a Housing Choice Voucher Program (“Section 8”) through it’s Assisted Housing Department. Currently, the DHC administers approximately 6000 vouchers under the Section 8 Program.
DHC’s annual operating revenue is approximately $71,009,500 . Its funds come from five main sources: HUD's annual operating subsidy; HUD's annual Capital Fund; Section 8 administrative fees; rent from public housing residents; and other program and capital grants from various sources. The DHC continues to explore alternative funding sources and has built numerous key partnerships with city and state agencies, nonprofit foundations, community-based organizations, and private developers. We serve our customers without regard to familial status, marital status, race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, physical handicap, or disability.
