Volunteers of America Michigan repurposing old school into affordable housing for homeless

DETROIT (FOX 2 - Volunteers of America Michigan's work to help those in need is expanding as the organization begins renovating an old school in Detroit.

VOAM recently received a grant from the State of Michigan to repurpose St. Mary's of Redford Catholic Church into 61 affordable housing units. It currently operates more than 800 units of affordable housing throughout the state. 

"These are folks that have decided to risk their lives for the most ultimate sacrifice for us for you for me for all of us as human beings and sometimes they fall on hard luck," said Aubrey MacFarlane, the president and CEO of Volunteers of America Michigan. "I hope to take that work we've done with veterans and expand that to other service populations to help them find housing, to reintegrate in their communities, and to continue to be that safety net for the community."

VOAM's assistance includes suicide prevention, work training, re-housing, food, and more for more than 1,200 veterans and their families. Kenneth Veal is one of those vets who have benefited from the help.

"They gave me the resources, they helped me find somewhere to live, they fed me, gave me clothing, made me feel like a man again," Veal said.

VOAM also helped Veal get an electric scooter because he had trouble walking.

"They told me, ‘OK, we’ll pick up the $500, you can pay the rest," he said. "I was like, "OK, who does that? They do."

As VOAM gets to work renovating St. Mary's, the organization needs help with the mission.

"We need a bigger pool of donors. We need folks who are committed to our vision and committed to our mission to step forward and agree that they truly want to impact the lives of veterans, seniors, and families in the state of Michigan and want to go about this journey to help us combat the housing crisis," MacFarlane said. 

Donate to Volunteers of America here.

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