Bringing people together for extremely low-income young people aging out of the foster care system to gain safety, stability, support, and a sense of belonging through shared housing, education, and advocacy.
Level Up Cooperative Housing Development Initiative
What problem do we hope to address?
Much of what's labeled as "affordable housing" is accessible to low to medium incomes. But what about the ELIs who earn $20,000/year or less? Many of them are shelling out over 50% of their income just to cover rent. Many of them are young adults, unable to achieve educational or employment goals due to unmet housing needs.
What do we propose?
Higher Ground Abodes’ is championing community-owned cooperative housing—a pragmatic solution for increasing the supply of stable and sustainable living that puts housing within the individ'uals’ reach.
So, what makes us different?
Profit isn't our endgame. Our focus is on making housing accessible to extremely low-income individuals and creating a framework that ensures long-term availability, regardless of market fluctuations. Our partners not only contribute to reducing losses associated with upkeep and turnover but also earn credits that translate into cash by adhering to rental terms.
Who do we have in mind?
Our inaugural initiative, aptly named "Level Up," targets extremely low-income foster young adults aspiring to pursue higher education.
In 2025, we plan to create a home for young people leaving foster care who want to go to college. It's called "Level Up."
How does it all work?
Our nonprofit will buy a home and keep it affordable for these individuals, even as prices go up. Those selected will live together and share costs and responsibilities in the home. In this way, housing will be cheaper, which will be very helpful toward achieving their goals.
Each individual, known as "Level Up Partners," gets a share. The share entitles each to a private room, a vote in home decisions, financial management lessons, and help in other areas of life, e.g., emotional, spiritual, physical, etc.
Partners in our "Level Up" initiative must do a few things: pay rent on time, attend business meetings with our nonprofit, and help keep the home clean. If they follow these rules each month, a part of their monthly housing payment will go into a savings account and be matched.
Our first project?
October 2024, Higher Ground Abodes purchased and started the work to improve our home, located in the historic Conant Gardens in northeast Detroit, Michigan.
What's on the horizon?
We're excited to embark on this journey, hand in hand with the young people who fit our criteria. Building on the successes of our 2024 cooperative camp with a couple of the same participants, our goal is to have a fully operational home by Fall 2025, Over the remainder of this year and into next, we will be:
1) complete renovation and safety upgrades.
2) set up the cooperative governance and orientation structure.
3) build financial and community support networks.
Join us on this adventure as we pave the way for a brighter future. The journey starts now, and we're thrilled to have you with us every step of the way!
To this end, Higher Ground Abodes has a goal to raise an additional $200,000 in monetary and in-kind support. The resources will be used to complete home improvements and furnish the space for shared living. Because we want to continue doing this with zero debt, we need our community to back us up!
Summary
By alleviating debt, partnering with residents to control building and operating costs, and engaging the donated expertise of other community partners, Higher Ground Abodes has a viable solution to help foster youth move beyond their circumstances, together!