DETROIT (WXYZ) — Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield launched a new program and highlighted other initiatives during her first State of the City address Tuesday aimed at growing the city's population and increasing homeownership.
The city is working to grow its population of roughly 645,000 while attracting out-of-towners and former residents through programs like Make Detroit Home and increase the Down Payment Assistance Program.
Watch the video report below:
Sheffield introduced Make Detroit Home as the flagship program of the Move Detroit initiative.
"We're gonna be offering $500,000 in program benefits to 313 Detroiters, current and future, and folks here will get access to up to $15,000 in financial benefits they can use as a down payment, home renovation or investment in their business," Move Detroit President and CEO Hilary Doe said.
Watch Sheffield's State of the City address below:
"This mayor has been laser-focused on making sure that she is growing Detroit by taking care of Detroiters," the Mayor's Chief of Staff David Bowser said. "We have talked internally quite a bit about why people leave, and it's lack of opportunity. So we want people to come back and we want people to stay. We have to provide those opportunities to do so."
Mika Handelman, a California native currently living in Tennessee, is buying a house in Detroit's Morningside neighborhood. She says she fell in love with Detroit after completing a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan.
"I mean, No. 1 is just gorgeous historic homes that are still affordable, so I'm trying to snatch before the market goes too crazy," Handelman said.
The city is also launching round three of its Down Payment Assistance Program. The program has already helped nearly 800 Detroiters become first-time homebuyers.
Gail Gibson, 66, used the program to buy the home she had been renting for a decade in the Mount Olivet neighborhood on the east side.
"I'm proud to be a Detroiter and it feels so good when you own your own home. It feels good. I never experienced the feeling of being a homeowner, but now I know how it feels. It feels good. This is mine," Gibson said.
Gibson's experience is inspiring her social circle, including former Detroiters living in the suburbs, to return to the city.
"I got a call from one of my friends saying she's paying $1,300, and she said 'oh, wow. I'm just gonna go ahead and apply for the program.' And she's coming back to Detroit. She was staying in Troy in her apartment and she said that she's gonna try and she's gonna come back to Detroit," Gibson said.
More information on both programs is available here:
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