Our mission is to help families in need of financial and business literacy to improve their chances to access home ownership.

In Fall of 2019, we provided home retention services for an elderly lady in Florida. She was facing a home foreclosure due to a previous loan modification that fell through with her previous lender. The board of directors is all business owners. We donated financial resources and labor to hire contractors to repair the home to restore the use of her bathroom toilet and bathtub. In addition, we hired an attorney to help negotiate the terms for a new loan modification so she can stay in her home. We also provided her with credit repair services and business development services.

In 2020, during and throughout the overlay of the pandemic we were able to successfully assist 47 people to become new homeowners. We facilitated this by providing free credit repair services, financial literacy, business development services, and money management strategies. This process was facilitated by partnering with realtors, mortgage lenders, lawyers, investment property lenders, tax professionals, and business consultants to help these clients step by step.

In 2021, we currently have 21 active clients. We are providing these same services, to assist them in new homeownership. Fresh Community Development Inc is working towards becoming a HUD Approved agency so we can further our mission of increasing homeownership in Florida. Our board of directors of community professionals is working together to provide resources to increase clients’ access to affordable housing and homeownership.  Our non-profit organization has expanded and currently operating in Michigan, Georgia, and Florida. 

This fall we created a homeownership program called Homeownership Depot. This program currently has 8 couples and 19 individuals going through our program to become home owners. Our 2022 goal is to reach 500 people to become homeowners.  We are currently working with attorneys and lenders to provide foreclosure prevention programming. As you know, these professional services are needed by people who may not be in a position to afford their services. Our contacts have agreed to provide these services at a fraction of the cost to clients that are  living check to check. If they can give us a deep discount on their end, we know that we can count on your to support by giving to this program. Your donation will support the fees for educational materials for participants, legal fees to resolve foreclosure, and down payment assistance to new homeowners.   

Fresh Community Development Inc

The Franciscan Earth Literacy Center is a 501 c 3 based in Tiffin, OH providing hands on environmental education for 4,000 yearly.

The Franciscan Earth Literacy Center is an environmental education center and demonstration program designed to promote the appreciation of nature and encourage sustainable living practices for people of all ages, preschool through adult. The Center and  farm are a space for indoor and outdoor learning with “hands-on” activities.  FELC serves over 4,000 each year with environmental education classes and camps, on this campus and in regional public, private, and home schools. FELC also serves developmentally disabled adults with hands-on job skills.

Franciscan Earth Literacy Center

To restore, protect, and enhance the Rouge River watershed through stewardship, education, and collaboration.

Friends of the Rouge was founded in 1986 by a group of concerned citizens to address the health of the Rouge River watershed, one of the most polluted river systems in the country. Friends of the Rouge works to actively empower community to achieve the vision of a clean and vibrant Rouge River in the heart of Metro Detroit.

Program areas include:
Restoration
Each year, hundreds of volunteers take part in building a clean water future with Friends. Rain gardens, bioswales, stormwater parks, and tree plantings create green solutions across Metro Detroit to combat neighborhood flooding, water pollution, heat, and habitat loss. One small rain garden may capture and absorb as much as 10,000 gallons of water every time it rains! The gardens, planted with Michigan native plants, create a sense of place and provide a beautiful oasis for butterflies, songbirds, and people! They also bring cleaner water to Rouge River fish, frogs, plants, and you. A recently tree planting project reforested a branch of the Rouge River with 14,000 new, native Michigan tree saplings. The Restoration program area is growing the most rapidly to meet the needs of a changing climate. To date, hundreds of rain gardens have been planted at schools, community centers, parks, in the front yard of neighbors homes across Metro Detroit.

Water Trail
The Lower Rouge River Water Trail is made up of 29 continuous river miles of adventure to explore by kayak or canoe. The Water Trail program is creating kayak launches, trailheads, and a built environment to allow access to a river that has been historically walled off from its surrounding community. Programming includes curated paddling trips and community outreach to build a trail that best fits the 10 communities that stretch along the ribbon of blue - the Lower Rouge River.
Rouge Education Project
The Rouge Education Project is an environmental education program involving elementary, middle, and high schools from across Metro Detroit. Students engage in the lifechanging experience of hands-on
scientific exploration, in waders, at the Rouge River. Students conduct real science, that they see the meaning of, and evaluate chemical, biological, and physical parameters of water quality to determine
the overall health of their “bend” of the River. And in turn, they forge connections with nature, their River, and science that last a lifetime.
“You have a lot of kids who come in and say ‘I don’t like science.’ ‘I am not a scientist.’ I have never even been to the river.’ The Rouge Education Project changes them.” –Tracy Ortiz, participating Rouge Education Project teacher at Clippert Academy in Detroit.

Biological Monitoring
The collection of year-round biological data, thanks to the incredible efforts of volunteer scientists, allows the measurement and tracking of Rouge River health over time. Working alongside trained team leaders, these volunteer are part of a citizen scientist movement. Their efforts have resulted in the most comprehensive, long-term fish and bug data set on the Rouge River system. In fact, the Rouge River is the most sampled river in the state of Michigan for fish!  And, a recent study by University of Michigan found that data collected by Friends of the Rouge citizen scientists is on par with professionally collected data. Data, analysis and findings are with the public, Rouge River watershed communities, and state agencies for use in local decision making.
Monitoring participants become active, engaged, and committed stewards of the River. 



Friends of the Rouge

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We are a nonprofit, so instead of charging fees we rely on the generosity of donors like you.

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