From Struggle to Strength
What happened to Detroit?
Regent Park was once a thriving Detroit neighborhood. Many teachers, police officers, fire fighters lived here. As a result it was sometimes called “copper canyon”. The perfect storm hit Regent Park in the beginning of the 21 century with corporate and municipal bankruptcies, political corruption, a catastrophic real estate crisis, the highest violent crime rate in the city and the resulting abandonment and despair. There was little hope.
Regent Park reaches from 8 Mile to 7 Mile and from Gratiot to Kelly Rd
There are approximately 2500 homes in our community and approximately 10000 residents. while the statistics in our community are improving dramatically the bigger picture of our city looks like this…..
Bringing hope and life back…
The challenges were daunting. It was an impossible situation and we did not know where to begin, it was paralyzing. We can remember as if it was yesterday. Then God began to move and we saw and experienced first hand the love of God. What He did over the next 18 years is a miracle of God sized proportion. Everything has changed. We worked harder, prayed more fervently, overcame more obstacles than we ever thought we could. God listened, He moved and what we have today is an increasingly thriving community. We have taken a lead role in
removing blight and its effects
restoring abandoned homes and parks
repurposing abandoned commercial properties
encouraged investment by others thereby accelerating the recovery/transformation
providing year round programming for people of all ages in the community building a strong sense of community and shared values keeping Jesus Christ at the center of our work.
Why YOU should support Lifebuilders (:
We have shown ourselves faithful to our mission and God has blessed it. Our work has transformed an entire community. We are starting our 19th year in ministry. While there are many worthy causes to invest in we believe Lifebuilders work is transformational, pacesetting, proven and replicable. It is not because of anything but the fact that God has decided that He could not look on at what was happening in our community and not do something. He chose us to do it and we ourselves are changed forever as a result.
We're a top-ranking nonprofit in Detroit, in the top 25%. We are a recognized by Guidestar as Platinum Plus in our financial reporting and transparency and are member of the ECFA. We have annual audits conducted.
An investment, a donation, in Lifebuilders will yield a high return! If you don’t believe us, check out this impact video above! (More videos for you on Vimeo and Youtube)
OUR VISION FOR 2025 AND BEYOND!
We believe that God can and will do exceedingly, abundantly beyond anything we can conceive or imagine. He has already shown us that!! His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts. What we do know is that there is more work to do and we need your help to do it.
We believe that we should build on the strong foundation that has been laid and
continue to extend our reach to more residents
protect what has been done to date
engage more residents in the work
provide more affordable housing to the increasing number of people who want to move to our neighborhood
host more events to richen the lives of our residents and exalt the God of our salvation
provide the resources heretofore not available to our residents to purchase homes, succeed in the workplace, and live in a safe community where children can play and have opportunities that they well deserve.
address the educational and spiritual deficits in our community
expand our one of kind partnership with Parkway Christian School, now in its 7th year, to provide more scholarships for neighborhood youth.
Practically speaking this will look like key strategic partnerships….subject matter experts joining us in the work to further equip our community with the tools and opportunities that have not been available in decades. Thanks to the generosity of many donors we have sufficient space to conduct our current and future programming for years to come. We are asking you today to donate to help us move the mission forward. Your donations of 50, 100, 500, or 5000 matters.