Motor City Mitten Mission

The Motor City Mitten Mission is dedicated to helping the homeless, the needy, the sick and those striving for a better way of life while educating, partnering and collaborating with a number of other organizations, schools, churches, clubs and businesses. We do what we do because it’s the right thing to do!

Our 3 primary programs in support of our mission statement are: Outreach; Transitional Services; and our Mats & Pillows project. Our outreach program operates 24/7. Staff/volunteers travel throughout Metro Detroit to meet the homeless where they are sheltering under overpasses; alleyways; and across thresholds of abandoned buildings to distribute food and basic needs, personal virus protection (masks, sanitizer, gloves), transportation to needed medical attention, protection from the elements, facilitate substance abuse treatment and/or mental illness assistance and most importantly compassion. Transitional services provide support for individuals and families that are on the edge of becoming homeless and those that are in the process of getting off the streets and into housing. We help those living on the street navigate the complex and severely backlogged public and subsidized housing system in Detroit. We directly secure housing, crowdsource donations, and deliver/move furniture. Our Mats & Pillows Project is the genesis of us becoming a formal nonprofit organization. We use recycled plastic bags to crochet mats and pillows to distribute to the homeless. They are ideal for harsh Michigan weather and provide a barrier between the ground and the body to help retain body heat while sleeping. In 2019, we used 2 million plastic bags in this program keeping these bags out of landfills.

The MCMM is the ONLY Street Outreach Team in Detroit that hasn't taken a day off during this Pandemic and is still the only daily street outreach team serving Metro Detroit daily.  Prior to Covid-19, MCMM typically provided 50-75 meals to unsheltered and/or temporarily homeless individuals/families per day.  This number has skyrocketed to 150-200 per day/1500 per week.  We anticipate this level of demand to continue as businesses continue to reduce staffing and, should the federal unemployment assistance scheduled to stop, we expect this will create insurmountable financial challenges for those who would lose this vital support.  

Money raised through the Rock Community Challenge will go directly to providing meals, motel rooms and all the other supplies and efforts that we provide on a daily basis to our homeless and near homeless friends. In 2019 we provided over 17,000 individual meals to people living on the streets throughout metro Detroit and we're on track to double that number in 2020.

The homeless are not invisible. Any one of us can be homeless because of an unexpected tragedy, job loss, divorce, death, PANDEMIC, etc. It’s so easy to be kind. Please be inspired and help us help others. Together we can make a difference!

We're participating in the 2020 Rock Family of Companies Community Challenge! Please make a donation today to support our mission and help us win prizes!