Detroit’s new Office of Eviction Defense director wants to help families thrive
April Faith-Slaker was appointed to lead the Detroit office in December, which is working to supply attorneys for low-income residents facing eviction.
April Faith-Slaker, the City of Detroit’s inaugural executive director of its Office of Eviction Defense has completed her first month on the job.
The office was created to satisfy a requirement of Detroit’s Right to Counsel (RTC) ordinance, passed by city council last May. The ordinance guarantees legal assistance to tenants who are at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty rate and facing eviction, though the Office of Eviction Defense is still laying the groundwork to provide that service.
“First and foremost, it’s really essential to help Detroit families thrive,” said Faith-Slaker. “Housing is a fundamental building block to having a healthy, productive and happy life. So, I’m hoping to cultivate housing stability in Detroit as a whole.”
Listen: WDET interviews Detroit’s first Executive Director of the Office of Eviction Defense, April Faith-Slaker
The Office of Eviction Defense’s goals are to ensure the Right to Counsel ordinance is properly implemented, coordinate with the court and other organizations in the housing and homelessness space, and collect data that assesses how the program is working.
The office opened three months behind schedule, though Faith-Slaker is unsure why it took awhile to get the program off the ground.
Detroit Corporation Counsel Conrad Mallet says delays were caused by staff departures.
“Project managers assigned RTC development and implementation left the city in late July, and I personally assumed responsibility,” Mallet said in an email. “Progress was slow but at no time were persons facing eviction…who came to 36th District Court seeking legal assistance ever denied service.”
In the interim, a program funded by the Gilbert Family Foundation and an initiative known as the Detroit Landlord-Tenant Legal Counsel have been providing attorneys to low-income Detroiters facing eviction.
But Faith-Slaker’s office secured critical funding after Detroit City Council approved a nearly $5 million agreement with United Community Housing Coalition on Tuesday to run the program.
“We are all fighting extremely hard to fully fund that particular program. I know that all of us are committed to finding ways to reduce the evictions throughout our city,” said City Council President Mary Sheffield.
Faith-Slaker said Detroit’s Right to Counsel program will be providing attorneys by the end of February, ahead of the March 1 deadline.
WDET reporter Eli Newman and news intern Solina Robles contributed to this story.
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