Over 100 people attended the GRDC’s Tax Foreclosure Prevention Workshop on Thursday, January 15. Over 20 volunteers from GRDC, the United Community Housing Coalition and the communities of Grandmont Rosedale were on hand to direct attendees, answer questions, help fill out forms and organize the intake of attendees. Over 60 forms for tax relief and assistance were filled out, thus ensuring that these families could remain in their homes while a more permanent solution is reached.
Also in attendance were several Block Captains or community representatives from communities both within and outside of Grandmont Rosedale. G. Errol Jennings president of the Russell Woods – Sullivan Area Association, for instance, came to the workshop to see how GRDC organized the event because he is thinking of holding a workshop in his neighborhood. “This was great,” Errol remarked. “I learned a lot of useful information about how to hold one of these workshops in my neighborhood.” Errol was not alone in his assessment of the evening. Representatives from the community based organization GroundWerx Community Impact, an organization that focuses on finding “human-centered solutions” to a number of issues facing Detroiters including foreclosures, also attended the event. GroundWerx.CI representatives spoke with several attendees and found that the attendees’ experience at the workshop was overwhelmingly positive. As Jon Gagnon, a GroundWerx.CI representative said, “I heard one person say ‘Now I don’t have to go downtown!’” After meeting one-on-one with an advisor to learn the options available to save their homes from foreclosure, several attendees thanked the volunteers on their way out, commenting that the workshop was “very helpful.”
If your home is in tax foreclosure, please visit the United Community Housing Coalition’s office Monday – Friday from 8:30am – 4pm, 220 Bagley, Suite 224, or call 313-963-3310 to find out what options are available to you. UCHC is a Detroit-based non-profit organization that has provided tax foreclosure assistance for over 10 years to thousands of Detroit and Wayne County residents. You can also call 2-1-1 for referral service and additional information about tax foreclosure resources.
The Wayne County Treasurer’s Office, along with the City of Detroit and a variety of non-profit, community, philanthropic and corporate partners are coming together for several events at Cobo Hall on Jan. 29 and Feb. 6 and at Wayne County Community College District locations on Feb. 7, 14, and 21 to offer assistance to the over 100,000 Detroit residents who could be displaced from their homes in the coming months due to tax foreclosures. Volunteers are needed to assist with intake, crowd management, and to assist in answering residents’ questions. Training will be provided and no experience in foreclosure is required. For more information contact Sheila Jackson at sheila@makeloveland.com or to RSVP click HERE. You can check out a flyer about the event at Cobo Hall HERE.
If you are attending your Show Cause Hearing at COBO Hall, there will be trained tax foreclosure counselors available to provide free assistance on-site. Check the back of your yellow tax foreclosure notice from the Wayne County Treasurer for your appointment time. Sessions are Thursday, Jan. 29th – Friday, Feb. 6th with morning and afternoon sessions at 8:30am and 1:00pm each day. Please bring your ID, proof of ownership and recent utility bill.