DETROIT – A transitional housing facility in Detroit was given three days to shut down because of zoning issues.
Detroit Power Detroit Community Outreach has a 19,000-square-foot facility in West Chicago, Detroit.
Just a few weeks ago, the facility made headlines for taking in the Williams family, who had two of their children die while living in their car at a Greektown parking garage.
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Detroit city officials are in the process of moving the Williams family to a more permanent home, but the zoning issues leave about a dozen other Detroit Power residents devastated.
Verkeydia Hall is the legal counsel and vice president for Detroit Power.
Hall said a 3rd Circuit Court judge ruled Monday that the facility has three days to shut down because it is not zoned for residential use.
“We have things like paperwork (and) zoning issues, really things that should have never been an issue stopping us from helping these people,” Hall said. “And there’s so many other things for the city to focus on, especially with housing since there is a housing crisis.”
The facility can hold up to 80 residents but currently houses about 15 people.
Hall said they’ve stopped taking new people in because of the zoning issues.
“This has been the coldest winter in the past six years, and they want us to leave people on the street because of a zoning issue,” Hall said.
Detroit Deputy Mayor Melia Howard said the city is working to find a new housing placement for every resident.
“No one is pushing anyone out,” Howard said. “We would never do that. We are going to make sure that the families and the individuals that are in this facility get the care (and) compassion that they deserve.”
However, many residents don’t want to leave.
“If I were to go to another facility, I would probably run away because they’re not going to care for me like they do,” Detroit Power resident Alexus Phillips said. “This is the only place I have felt safe in a very long time.”
Phillips, 22, arrived at Detroit Power when she was 19.
“These staff members are family, and they treated me as such since I walked through the door,” Phillips said.
Another resident, Jennifer Van Pablo, arrived at Detroit Power one year ago after her house burned down and her kids were taken from her.
“I’m kind of devastated because where does it leave me? Where does it leave everybody else?” Van Pablo said about the looming shutdown.
Hall showed Local 4 a document dated April 2024 saying it was their application receipt showing they applied for rezoning almost a year ago but never received anything back.
That receipt also showed an application fee of more than $800 paid by Detroit Power to the city.
With the shutdown date approaching, Deputy Mayor Howard answered questions about the future of the facility and what can be done to reopen it.
“The judge has already rendered that they need to vacate, so once everyone is vacated, I’m not a lawyer, so I can’t qualify that,” Howard said. “But we’ll see if they can go back through the zoning process with the city, and if that is the case and they meet all the qualifications, then they will be able to reopen.”
According to Hall, Detroit Power’s building was previously used as a nursing home and a boys' home before that.