Dan Gilbert announces a $ 500 million investment in Detroit neighborhoods

DETROIT – Dan Gilbert made an announcement Thursday that will directly impact Detroit for years to come. – A total of $ 500 million invested in the city of Detroit and its residents over the next ten years, on behalf of a joint initiative of the Gilbert Family Foundation and the Rocket Community Fund.

TO READ: Local organizations will invest $ 500 million in Detroit and eliminate property tax debt from thousands of homeowners

Funds will be started with help for homeowners with overdue property taxes.

Over the past decade, the city of Detroit, Wayne County and Gilbert have tackled the issue of property tax enforcement, but it remains a problem for approximately 20,000 Detroiters who are in an endless circle. of low incomes, high bills and struggling to make ends meet. .

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Gilbert said he has to stop for Metro Detroit to move forward.

“No one should have to make the decision to choose between keeping her at home and feeding her family,” Gilbert said.

Gilbert and his wife, Jennifer, pledge half a billion dollars through the Gilbert Family Foundation and the Rocket Community Fund to make a real impact on the problems people face.

The first effort will involve $ 15 million in property tax returns that can often lead to grueling generational poverty.

“We’d rather delve into a handful of important and important issues and make a big impact than just hand out money like Santa,” Gilbert said.

This is the beginning of giving guidance so that Detroiters stop looking back financially and move forward, maintaining and improving their homes.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said that with this investment foreclosures are no longer the big deal.

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“The stress is that there are people with bills from four, five or six years ago hanging on their heads, which makes them insecure in their lives every day,” Duggan said. “What the Gilbertes have done is give them a path to financial security.”

The fund will be operated by local nonprofit agency Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency, which is already working to help Detroit area residents with home-related payments through property tax assistance programs and services related. To find out if you meet the requirements, click here.

This money to withdraw the tax debt will inevitably end up in the city and county, but Wayne County Executive Warren Evans said there is much more at stake.

“I would much rather see property taxes paid, interest and penalties waived, fees waived, fees removed and people have the ability to pay their taxes,” Evans said. “This will build a stronger Wayne County.”

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Gilbert estimates that $ 15 million will solve the taxes due, leaving $ 485 million to pursue other issues. He said he has not decided where the money will go and that he is focusing on one problem at a time.

For more information on investing in organizations, visit the Gilbert Family Foundation website here.