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Southwest Housing Solutions
Piquette Square for Veterans
 
Piquette Square is a new 150-unit apartment project in Detroit to house and care for homeless veterans. Piquette Square offers comprehensive support services to help the veterans develop self-sufficiency and reintegrate into the community. Southwest Housing Solutions developed Piquette Square and owns and manages it.

 


Services:

The Piquette Square project is situated on the same ground where the historic Studebaker factory near New Center was destroyed by fire in 2005. The new four-story brick building, at 6221 Brush, consists of 150 affordable one-bedroom units, as well 11,000 square feet of common area and commercial space. The first tenants moved into Piquette in June 2010.

Piquette Square offers mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment, on-site job training, computer labs, educational programs and other support services to help the veterans develop healthy and independent living skills. Southwest Solutions is partnering with numerous human services providers, government agencies and veterans’ groups to provide access to these services. Piquette Square expands Southwest Solutions’ commitment to place homeless veterans in permanent supportive housing, an evidence-based and proven recovery model.

Piquette fosters a welcoming and dynamic environment. A calendar of regular classes, special events, and social programs engages tenants. These activities are facilitated by Southwest staff, partner program staff, interns and volunteers.

For apartment application information, please email Shea Hicks  or call her at  313.297.1325.

Numerous organzations collaborated to fund, plan and provide support services to the Piquette Square project. Our funding partners include:


For more information about construction and funding for the project, please email Steve Gabrys.


Wish List:

The homeless veterans moving into Piquette Square have many needs, and we have been seeking donations and help from volunteers to address these needs. Our Wish List effort has already generated an outpouring of community support, enabling us to provide many items for each of the 150 apartment units. The Piquette tenants are deeply appreciative of all these items that have helped them feel truly welcome and at home. 

If you would to help, please review our revised Wish List of items and volunteer opportunities. 

Please email or call Chery Allen, Veterans Resource Facilitator, at 313.874.7014 x.350. if you can direct us to useful related resources such as retailers (perhaps with veterans in leadership positions), church groups or veteran service organizations. We also welcome financial contributions to help provide support services.


Donation partners:

 

 

  
   Results
  • The total cost of about $23 million is financed through a combination of tax credits, bond funding, MSHDA chronic homeless funds, and various grants
  • Piquette Square more than doubles the number of long-term supportive housing beds available to homeless veterans in Michigan
  • The 3.28-acre facility is conveniently located about a mile and a half north of the VA Hospital and the Detroit Medical Center
  • The net square footage of the building is 106,000 sq. ft.
  • Piquette Square is not only an important development in addressing homelessness in the city, it contributes to the ongoing growth of the New Center area by adding additional housing units and 5,000 sq. ft. of streetfront commercial space along Piquette Avenue (the commerical space has been rented to the VA for its new Veterans Community Resource and Referral Center)
  • Piquette Square helps revitalize the historic Milwaukee Junction neighborhood, which was once known as the “Cradle of the Automotive Industry,” but had fallen victim to blight and abandonment

Piquette Square is an important piece of a major collaborative commitment to address the growing problem of homeless veterans in metropolitan Detroit. There were 3596 homeless veterans in the Detroit area in 2005, according to the city’s Ten-Year Plan To End Homelessness. Homeless advocates now estimate that number to be more than 4,000. One of every three homeless men in Detroit and nationally is a veteran.

“Our veterans have fought to protect the safety and the freedom that we enjoy every day, and we have a duty to provide them with adequate housing and medical care,” said Senator Carl Levin. “Piquette Square is a major development in meeting that hallowed responsibility.”

Piquette is only the second project of its kind in Michigan - joining Silver Star in Battle Creek, Michigan - and is one of the largest in the nation.

See a detailed Fact Sheet about Piquette Square that answers Frequently Asked Questions.

 

 
  Piquette Square Newsletter

 
  Piquette Square News

 
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