HOPE

HOPE envisions a community where all have the opportunity to move from homelessness to safe housing, gain access to resources, and develop the skills to enhance their quality of life.

HOPE Inc. was founded in 1998 as a community response to a homeless person freezing to death in downtown Pontiac, Michigan. The need for HOPE was great. In the mid-1990s in Pontiac, long standing shelter closed it's doors and another shifted it's focus to long-term addiction services. Since its founding, the organization has provided seasonal emergency shelter for individuals struggling with homelessness in northern Oakland County, turning no person away. Beginning at the Baldwin Center, HOPE operated during the coldest 3 months of the year and guests were given two blankets and a pillow and slept on the floor.
In 2010, the organization purchased a foreclosed building across the street- 249 Baldwin. Bit by bit and with the help of many, many volunteers the space has been transformed by over a half million dollars of volunteer labor and in-kind donations. In 2015, HOPE acquired the vacant lots adjacent to our property. As you can see HOPE has made many transitions over the years, we hope to use the lots to one day build a Family Shelter.