Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield is prioritizing anti-poverty measures in her 814-page proposed budget. 

The budget comes as more than a third of Detroit residents experienced poverty in 2024, the highest rate the city has seen since 2017. More than half of Detroit’s children are living in poverty, and the poverty rate among seniors reached its highest point in a decade.

Sheffield’s budget responds with new spending on multiple fronts. It promises free year-round bus rides for kids to reduce chronic absenteeism, higher pay for bus drivers, and a new office for senior affairs, with a $750,000 food access program for older Detroiters. It includes $2.2 million for after-school programs, a $500,000 increase to the Grow Detroit’s Young Talent summer jobs program, and a new $40 million Human, Homeless and Family Services Department. It also expands the city’s affordable housing fund, and provides a living wage for city workers.

But the city has 34 million fewer dollars than it did last year. So what makes it in, and what gets cut?

Detroit Documenters are sitting in on all 47 budget hearings alongside reporters at Outlier Media and Bridge Detroit.

Noah Kincade, coordinator of the Detroit Documenters program at Outlier Media, joined Robyn Vincent to discuss.

Editor’s note: The Public Lighting Authority director who used ChatGPT to respond to councilmembers’ budget questions is Beau Taylor. The broadcast version of this story misidentified him.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

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Over the past decade, homelessness has been down in Oakland County. But in the last three years, it’s been trending up again. 

The 2024 point-in-time count found that about 1,700 people were homeless in Oakland County. 

Last week, the locality conducted its latest count while Wayne County had one on Wednesday. We don’t have the official results from either count yet, but, according to Ryan Hertz, the number of families that are homeless is growing, even as chronically homeless individuals are getting housing more often.

The Metro’s Sam Corey spoke with the CEO and president of the anti-poverty organization, Lighthouse, to learn more.

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The Empowerment Plan has been in service to metro Detroit’s homeless population since 2012. 

Empowerment Plan employs people living in shelters. They manufacture coats made from sleeping bags that they distribute to people in need. That includes people in Detroit, across the nation, and in dozens of other countries. 

Veronika Scott is the founder of Empowerment Plan. She talks about her struggles with poverty and homelessness as a kid. She remembers driving around with her mother, getting sent in circles from one caseworker in Detroit to another in Pontiac. 

Years later, a class at College for Creative Studies called “Designing to Fill a Need” led her where she is today—and that’s helping people experiencing homelessness.

This year, Empowerment Plan hand made its 100,000th sleeping bag coat. 

Veronika, founder of Empowerment Plan joins host Tia Graham on The Metro to talk more about reaching this milestone and what’s next for organization.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

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