In my role at Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan, I worked with the Detroit Phoenix Center to document contributions by DPC’s Youth Action Board to designing Detroit’s first rapid rehousing program aimed at youth. The rapid rehousing program, which launched in spring of 2024, provides young adults experiencing homelessness with access to a crisis bed and a pathway to up to two years of housing assistance and wraparound supports. This rapid rehousing program is one component of the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program supported by a $5.7 million federal grant awarded to Detroit’s Continuum of Care in September 2021.
I produced a 12-minute mini-documentary that includes interviews with youth who received housing through the rapid rehousing program, Youth Action Board members involved in designing the rapid rehousing program, DPC staff who administer the program, and a representative from another youth homeless shelter in Detroit.
I worked closely with a youth communications fellow and DPC staff to set high-level goals and target audiences for the video, select the interviewees, develop the interview questions, and determine appropriate compensation for people sharing their lived expertise. I coached the youth communications yellow on how to conduct the interviews, wrote the video script, and worked with the videographers to develop the tone and imagery for the mini-documentary.
Goals
- Document the youth-centered, youth-led decision-making process that informed the design of the new youth rapid rehousing program.
- Explain the significance of housing-first policies and wraparound supports to address homelessness and housing instability.
- Identify points of tension between current HUD regulations and policies compared to the vision of people with lived experience for accessing emergency housing.
Audiences & Action Steps
Target audiences included:
- Detroit-based social service providers working in housing and homelessness services, who are interested in meaningful youth engagement to shape their service delivery;
- City, state, and federal officials who allocate funding and set policy that impacts housing assistance programs;
- Funders interested in supporting similar youth rapid rehousing programs and/or engaging youth in shaping other types of programs;
- Detroit landlords who might want to participate in the rapid rehousing program.
The Rollout
Poverty Solutions and the Detroit Phoenix Center hosted a video screening and panel discussion in Detroit in May 2025 that drew 45 service providers, policymakers, and other stakeholders to discuss the future of youth rapid rehousing in the city.
Detroit Phoenix Center staff and youth advocates shared the mini-documentary at the National Summit on Youth Homelessness in February 2025 in Washington, D.C.
The project was featured on Poverty Solutions’ communications channels, including our annual impact report, Detroit newsletter, and social media in the spring of 2025.
I led a breakout session on collaborative storytelling with a community partner, using this project as a case study, at U-M’s Maize x Blue conference for university communicators in the spring of 2025.
Additional video screenings and discussions are in the works for the fall of 2025.
The Response
The mini-documentary and related events opened up new partnership and collaboration opportunities among youth homelessness service providers in Detroit.
“One action step I identified based on this event is to provide a service that supports the youth population in the Wayne County community. This initiative would directly benefit the young people living in the area I serve. It is definitely an outreach effort I am passionate about and would like to be involved in.” – attendee at screening & panel discussion
“The video was absolutely perfect to me and I can’t wait for the community to see it. Thank you for allowing me to be apart of such an amazing project.” – Azaria Terrell, DPC Youth Action Board president
Lauren Slagter 