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 Terri Lopez 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.


Donations:

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 are interested in donating items to Piquette, please email or call Chery Allen, Veterans Resource Facilitator, at 313.874.7014 x.350. Contact Chery also 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.

Our major donation need at Piquette is financial assistance to sustain the support services provided to the veterans residing there. These comprehensive services help veterans rebuild their lives and reintegrate into the community. To learn how can help ensure that these services continue, please email Bob O'Brien or call him at 313.297.1370. You may also make an online donation. In the online donation form, please specify in the Comments section that your donation is for "Piquette Square support services."


Donation partners (12/2011 - 3/2012):

Donations over $500:

  • Ally Financial
  • JPMorgan Chase
  • Marathon Oil Company
  • Quicken Loans
  • Coca Cola
  • Ford Motor Co. American Legion Post 173
  • Ilitch Holdings
  • MCL-Jasco
  • Masco Corporation Foundation
  • Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters
  • Klein Family Foundation
  • Brinker Team Construction
  • Sleeping Bear Winery
  • Dante and Olga Stella
  • Belfor USA Group
  • Cpl. Walter F. Bruce VFW Post 1146
  • Foundation for American Veterans
  • General Motors CCA Veterans
  • Affinity Group
  • Susanne McMillan
  • VFW Bruce Post 1146 Ladies Auxiliary
  • Bethel Baptist Church
  • Fraser VFW Post 6691 Ladies Auxiliary
  • Henry Ford Community College Administration Association
  • Ruth Share
  • Mary Hubbell
  • K of C Pope John Paul II Assembly
  • Denise Lewis
  • Melvin Riecher

Donations under $500:

  • Andrew and Stacey Allen
  • Michael and Chery Allen
  • American Legion Post 232 -Carl E. Stitt
  • Suzanne Antisdel
  • John Booth II
  • Chris Buczynski and Diane Eberts
  • Harold Burgess
  • Allen and Michelle Burrell
  • Richard N. Carter
  • Michelle Casey
  • Catholic War Veterans - Albert C.
  • Doyle Post 1346
  • Tim and Mary Caughlin
  • Robert and Lucy Caulfield
  • Frank and Kathryn Cernak
  • Carol Cleary
  • Marcia Closson
  • Gail an Michael Conte
  • Nancy Coulter
  • Scott Crandall
  • David Cuningham
  • James Dadswell
  • Department of Michigan VFW Ladies Auxiliary
  • Disabled American Veterans Chapter 102
  • Gregory and Kimberly Dunn
  • Prentis Edwards, Jr.
  • Barbara Eisterhold
  • Gary and Julie Erwin
  • Rebecca Falleti
  • Mary Fields
  • Fraser VFW Post 6691
  • Cristina and Scott Garberding
  • General William Knudsen VFW Post 7310
  • Allen Gigliotti and Terry Barclay Gigliotti
  • Jeffrey and Marilyn Gilbert
  • Katherine Grahl
  • Ned Greenberg
  • Charmaine Guerriero
  • Claude and Ramona Guy
  • Stephanie and Josh Hachey
  • Pamela Hall
  • Katherine Hanway
  • Diana D. Harris
  • Peggy Heine and Jared Klein
  • Hubert-Fortiers-O'Grady Post 345 Veterans
  • of Foreign Wars
  • Virginia Naruszewicz and Cecilia Indyk
  • JFK Knights of Columbus Council 5460
  • Ladies Auxiliary
  • W.D. Kemp
  • Janis Kenny
  • Norbert Kidd
  • Darren Kinkead
  • Rosemary M. Konwerski
  • Mary Kramer
  • Eugene W. Kuthy
  • Mark and Brenda Laberge
  • Richard Landuyt
  • Corey Leon
  • Susan Lohmann
  • Stephane Lubin
  • Joyce and Nicholas Luxon
  • James Madigan
  • James and Dorothy Madigan
  • Pamela Makila
  • Daniel and Nancy Mallory
  • Hugh and Wilma Mallory
  • Marine Corps Auxiliary Macomb County
  • Marine Corps League
  • Randy Markesley
  • Chuck Marquis
  • Lisa Masi-Griffiths and Patrick Griffiths
  • Diana McBroom and Joseph Levin
  • Honorable Pennie Millender
  • Bradley Miller
  • Mittlestat-Smith American Legion Post 337
  • Moms of Michigan Military Supporters
  • Sally B. Moore
  • Roy Murray
  • Cecilia Indyk and Virginia Naruszewicz
  • Niedling Electric, Inc.
  • Mort Noveck
  • Bonnie and Marc  Nowakowski
  • Ruthanne Okun
  • Paul Hornaday VFW Post 1407
  • Richard and Donna Pesci
  • Jean Pierce
  • Polish Legion of American Veteran Post 162
  • Eileen and Richard Polk
  • Terrence Potvin
  • Steven Olinek and Rebecca Powers
  • Preservation Management
  • Nirmala and Jaswant Purohit
  • Ramscale Productions Inc.
  • Sam Ray
  • Beverly Repke
  • Mark Rider
  • Tom Samanen
  • Elaine Susan Saneske
  • Karen Schoen
  • Kim Schopmeyer
  • Yvette Searcy
  • Trudy Shiemke
  • Sandro Silvestri
  • Jack and Jayne Sims
  • Lawarence Smyrski
  • Kae Halonen and Samuel Stark
  • Cyril and Jacqueline Thiel
  • U.S. Border Patrol
  • VFW Ladies Auxiliary 2358
  • Ronda and Pearl Viars
  • Vietnam Veterans War Post 7
  • Chelsea Vittiglio
  • Darlene Wojdacki
  • Judi Lynn Duncan Yantiss
  • Robert Ziolkowski

We continue to receive donations in many forms that are too numerous to list.  We thank all the organizations and individuals who have donated goods and services; because of you and the support of our community, Piquette Square continues to help our area Veterans.

 

  
   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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