Brick + Beam Detroit

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Brick + Beam Detroit to Expand Home Repair Classes, Hire Executive Director, with New Funding from Quicken Loans Community Fund and Knight Foundation 

DETROIT, November 9, 2018 – Brick + Beam Detroit, a support and education network for Detroit's home rehab community, today announced $150,000 in total grant funding from both the Quicken Loans Community Fund and the Knight Foundation. The grants will support the creation of a full-time Executive Director position, expand and increase the frequency of home repair classes and improve access to information and resources about building rehabilitation in Detroit.

“We are so proud to announce our partnership and new funding from two incredible organizations – the Quicken Loans Community Fund and Knight Foundation,” said co-founder Emilie Evans. “Brick + Beam will now be able to scale up our classes to impact an even greater number of Detroiters and local contractors taking on or looking to complete building rehab projects.”

Brick + Beam currently offers workshops and social events for Detroit residents who are rehabbing, maintaining, or looking to buy properties in the city. Additionally, local property owners can visit BrickAndBeamDetroit.com for extensive how-to guides, a crowdsourced contractor list, a Q+A forum, and a "Brag Your Rehab" map where Detroiters share experiences, challenges, rehab success stories, and photos.  

“Detroit’s older housing stock is an asset in so many ways, but access to repair resources continues to pose a daily challenge to Detroit families,” said Laura Grannemann, Vice President of Strategic Investments at the Quicken Loans Community Fund. “Brick + Beam provides the resources and connections that empower Detroit families to improve their own homes. Growing this capacity in our community will build upon the ecosystem of housing resources that is essential to ensuring equitable housing access.”

“Brick + Beam has worked to create a culture of civic engagement in Detroit by fostering a vibrant community of doers and makers who are invested in revitalizing older buildings and their city. Expanding their work will open new opportunities for connected action,” said Katy Locker, Knight Foundation program director in Detroit.

The grant funding is made up of $75,000 from the Knight Foundation and $75,000 from the Quicken Loans Community Fund. 

Brick + Beam is a collaboration among the Michigan Historic Preservation Network, Preservation Detroit, and Detroit Future City. 

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About Brick + Beam Detroit
Brick + Beam Detroit connects building rehabbers, property owners, and prospective buyers with skills-building classes, local tradespeople, DIY resources, repair advice, and each other. To date, the organization — which is a program of the Michigan Historic Preservation Network — has impacted nearly 1,500 residents, property owners, and tradespeople through its in-person monthly events. Selected as a 2015 Knight Cities Challenge winner, Brick + Beam has successfully hosted or sponsored dozens of home repair events and developed forums to connect property rehabbers with one another to keep building reinvestment moving forward. This was accomplished through the dedication of the three original co-founders working on a very limited basis without any support staff.

The Michigan Historic Preservation Network (MHPN), founded in 1981, is the largest membership organization in the state dedicated to recognizing and preserving Michigan’s rich cultural and architectural heritage. They advocate for Michigan’s historic places to contribute to our economic vitality, sense of place, and connection to the past. This is accomplished through education, outreach, and advocacy assistance to local residents and business owners, preservation organizations, policymakers, and elected officials throughout the state. MHPN is committed to Detroit’s neighborhoods through this program and others, with dedicated Detroit staff. 

About the Quicken Loans Community Fund
The Quicken Loans Community Fund is the philanthropic arm of Detroit-based Quicken Loans, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, which operates under a “for-more-than-profit” philosophy that recognizes business and community are inextricably linked. This model brings together all of the assets of the Quicken Loans business – team member talent, technology, policy advocacy, and philanthropic resources – to invest in comprehensive community development across Detroit, Cleveland, Charlotte and Phoenix. Over the last two years alone, the Quicken Loans Community Fund has invested over $50 million in the Detroit community through investments in housing stability, entrepreneurship, education & employment and public space activation. This includes marquee investments like $5 million into the Rehabbed & Ready program and a multi-million dollar, long-term commitment in property tax foreclosure prevention and reform. The work of the Quicken Loans Community Fund is powered by the 30,000 team members that work for the Quicken Loans Family of Companies nation-wide.

For more information, visit quickenloans.org or see our For-More-Than-Profit booklet here.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visit kf.org.

Contact:

Emilie Evans
Co-founder | Brick + Beam Detroit
Riverfront Development Manager | Detroit RiverFront Conservancy
Detroit Revitalization Fellow, 2017-2019
www.brickandbeamdetroit.com
Phone: 202-413-3424
Email: [email protected]