A cash incentive is being offered to eligible Detroit residents to stay in the Motor City.
Make Detroit Home is a new program that will provide over $500,000 in benefits to 313 current and future residents, supporting local business growth and welcoming people back home to Detroit.
The program is designed to support current residents working in creative industries, entrepreneurs, and small-business owners, while also offering opportunities for new and returning Detroit residents.
Selected participants will receive a $15,000 stipend for business expenses, home down payments, renovations, or rental subsidies. Other eligible residents can access $1,000 in support to cover relocation costs, security deposits, or quality‑of‑life perks such as gym memberships and meal deliveries.
“Selected participants will also receive wraparound support, including access to industry and community events, quality-of-life enhancements like park passes, discounts to local businesses, and experiences,” Hilary Doe, president and CEO of MoveDetroit, tells Realtor.com®.
“Taken together, these offerings help residents grow roots in their community and support their decision to call Detroit home over the long term.”
“This kind of initiative can have a huge impact. The $15,000 piece is the most interesting to me. In Detroit, that’s not symbolic; that’s catalytic. It can turn a renter into a homeowner, or take a property from ‘not quite there’ to livable,” Erica Collica Swink, associate broker at Detroit-Max Broock Realtors, tells Realtor.com. “And when that happens, it doesn’t just change one household. It actually can change the whole block.”
MoveDetroit coalition aims to attract people to the city
Launched last week, the MoveDetroit coalition is a nonprofit dedicated to attracting and supporting city residents. Its inaugural initiative, Make Detroit Home, unites local businesses, nonprofits, and civic partners with the full backing of the mayor’s office.
Dan Gilbert, the Detroit-born billionaire and founder of Rocket Mortgage, serves as the chair of the MoveDetroit coalition.
“For too long, we’ve been educating some of the most talented young people in the country, only to watch them leave to places like New York City, Atlanta, California, Seattle, Miami, and elsewhere,” Gilbert said at a press conference. “Our city and state has basically been running a free training program for other cities. At our largest universities, we are losing nearly half our graduates. But today, we’re flipping that equation.”
Gilbert noted that companies such as Rocket, Google, Fifth Third Bank, Henry Ford Health, Birdstop, and StockX all have a presence in Detroit.
“Now Detroit has more to offer than ever to attract and compete for these young people who are vital to our growth,” said Gilbert.
Who is eligible?
The program is open to Detroit residents working as creatives, entrepreneurs, or small-business owners.
Former residents, those with ancestral Detroit roots, and students returning to the city are also encouraged to apply.
In addition, workers and families relocating with remote work or critical skills that support Detroit entrepreneurs and businesses in growing local sectors are eligible.
“We are going to keep the people who are already here. We are going to bring back those who left. And we’re going to attract the next generation of builders, creators, and entrepreneurs from everywhere, including the cities who stole our kids,” Gilbert said.
Who’s funding this?
Doe says the program—whose fundraising goal for the year is $10 million—is not publicly funded.
“MoveDetroit is a nonprofit,” Doe tells Realtor.com. “Its work is funded by the over 50 Detroit-based organizations and counting, across sectors, that have joined the coalition as members.”
Doe says Gilbert “has generously committed to matching every dollar raised by the broader coalition in the first year.”
Gilbert said he’s doing this because “this is an investment in our city’s future, and I know the results will be transformative.”
Gilbert closed out his press conference by saying, “Cities do not grow by accident. They grow when people decide to grow together. So my last question is, ‘Are you going to walk from the sidelines, or are you in?'”