DETROIT (WXYZ) — Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans and the organization Community Solutions are teaming up to end veteran homelessness.
They are debuting new ads to raise awareness about the issue. The videos are putting the faces of once homeless veterans front and center.
Laura Granneman is the Vice President of the Quicken Loans Community Fund.
She explained, “It is unacceptable from our perspective to have anyone experience homelessness, let alone the people who put their lives on the line for us.”
They effort promotes permanent housing like Southwest Solutions’ Piquette Square on Brush Street.
Candace Morgan is with Community Solution’s ‘Built For Zero’ program. She tells us more than 200 veterans are homeless in Detroit.
“But we are working feverishly to make sure that they have a home,” Morgan said.
Besides raising awareness about homeless veterans, the ad campaign is to battle misconceptions of why those who served our country ended up on the streets.
“People aren’t homeless because they want to be homeless. They are homeless because or circumstances,” Morgan explained. “Just because they couldn’t pay the rent. They are homeless because maybe a mental health issue or a health issue.”
The national campaign features four veterans who once fell on hard times, including Taz who is from Detroit.
The hope is to get veterans into a home and give them the help they need, including job placement.
Quicken Loans has worked with Community Solutions for three years and donated about $15 million to the cause.
Morgan added, “Anytime you are a part of something good, you feel good about it.”
