The Gilbert Family Foundation’s eviction defense fund program connected more than 6,400 households to free legal support, already surpassing its year one goal.
About half of the 6,453 households were given full legal representation, and the other half obtained legal advice.
Director of Detroit initiatives for the Gilbert Foundation, Darnell Adams, said the program’s original goal was just 6,000 in their first year.
“The data has shown us the most economically-disadvantaged among us who tend to face eviction at a disproportionately higher rate are Black people in Detroit,” Adams told Bridge Detroit. “A lot of people don’t have anywhere else to go and they end up becoming unhoused. The cycle of being unhoused and rehoused over and over begins to erode at one’s mental health, especially for underprivileged residents.”
Having exceeded the original goal, the Gilbert Foundation aims to reach even more households in their second year while supporting the Detroit’s newly established eviction defense office.
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