Let’s Open Grace Haven Homeless Shelter

Updated: 1-27-2024

Hello, Grace Haven supporter.  I hope we are doing well and striving. I want to provide you with an update on our project.  Grace Haven was a homeless shelter for 32 years which my late grandmother operated for nearly a quarter of a century.  Since she has passed, I have taken on the task of creating a new and revitalizing Grace Haven Center.  

 

I have a new and exciting vision to share!  After much consideration, I have decided to go in another direction for Grace Haven.  As you may recall from the previous campaign, a mentor and myself had picked a business model of bringing social service agencies into the building.  At the time, it was a relief to find a business model that would easily satisfy funding requirements; however, I pondered and wrestled with the viability of that particular model.  I always believed Grace Haven was a home and should remain as a shelter for anyone in need.  Furthermore, I want the facility to be used as a solution to a serious problem in the community, and one in particular is local youth with no place to go.  After praying and meditating with precious time going by, I have decided that Grace Haven will be a homeless shelter for youth.  Currently, there are kids sleeping on couches that do not have a home in our community and other counties.  According to the Michigan League for Public Policy in 2019, one in 30 unaccompanied youth ages 12-17 will experience homelessness in a given year.  This number then jumps to one in 10 from ages 18-24.  Grace Haven is one possible solution for our youth experiencing homelessness to come seek shelter, rehabilitate, and return home healthy.  Details of the program will be announced in a forthcoming press release.  

 

Another problem in Jackson is the high prevalence of chronic health-related diseases.  I am looking to partner with organizations to explore ways to combat these health issues in our community and host workshops for anyone to attend.  With these new plans, such partnerships will better serve the community by solving our youth crisis and managing health conditions.  I now know for sure that this model will make my late grandmother, Billie Oliver, and the late Dorothy Williams, the original founder, both proud.  My intentions from the beginning was to not let this facility go to waste.  The good news is that the building was recently inspected by the city and a local contractor and both said that Grace Haven just needs some tender loving care.  I have reached out to the mayor of Jackson and wrote a letter to city council at a recent town hall virtual meeting to outline our intentions to rehabilitate the home and to request assistance from local authorities if possible.

 

In order to meet Grace Haven’s mission of serving our youth and community, we are paying property taxes to avoid tax foreclosure.  Everyone including myself was under the impression after the reinstatement of the 501c3 status in April 2018 that Grace Haven was stopped from being assessed property taxes.  However, after receiving the denial letter from the city of Jackson for property tax exemption, I contacted Grace Haven’s lawyer who did some legal research and found a tax exemption case.   In 2008, The Michigan Supreme Court made a decision in the case of Liberty Hill Housing Corporation versus the city of Livonia.  The high court ruled in favor for the city of Livonia to deny a charitable tax exemption for a nonprofit organization, Liberty Hill Housing Corporation, that leased housing to low income tenants.  The high court also stated that a nonprofit organization at a minimum must have a regular presence on the property such as residents or tenants occupying the building.  Therefore, we must pay property taxes until the grand opening day.  This tax obligation is a tough pill to swallow, but we plan on paying the taxes because our mission of ultimately serving our youth and community outweighs any financial setbacks.

 

In short, your donation from 2024 and beyond will go towards Grace Haven's project and NOT towards property taxes. In prior years, we were raising funds totaling $12,820 just to save the home from county tax foreclosure. I, Derry Petty, pretty much have a firm footing on paying the property taxes at this time. Once we obtain our first goal of $85,000, we can begin fixing up the home to bring it up to city code and then we can serve our community needs. Also, we will need to fundraise for our website gracehavencenter.com and architect drawings for the home. Currently, our domain name is redirecting to this gofundme page until we have a robust interactive website.

If you prefer to donate by check, please make check out to Grace Haven Center and send to Grace Haven Center P.O. Box 655 Jackson, MI 49204

If you prefer to cashapp, you can send it to $SAVEGRACEHAVEN

Visit our website at www.gracehavencenter.com

Please share this page on your social media networks!

 

Thank you for your continued support!

 

 

Derry Petty

Founding Director