RUTH ELLIS CLAIRMOUNT CENTER

Ruth Ellis Clairmount Center in Detroit, MI won a 2023 Charles L. Edson Tax Credit Excellence Award in the Housing for Special Populations category.

Ruth Ellis Clairmount Center, a collaboration between the Ruth Ellis Center and Full Circle Communities, provides 43 affordable Permanent Support Housing units for homeless or at-risk LGBTQ+ youth in Detroit. The property’s development features a trauma-informed, integrative design intended to maximize the comfort and safety of the community’s residents, and stakeholders incorporated youth with lived experience throughout bringing the property to fruition to ensure the community was responsive to the community’s needs. Ruth Ellis Clairmount Center also has a variety of supportive services on-site that are available to residents, including trauma-informed case management services, group and art therapy services, and primary and behavioral healthcare.

The property was made possible through support from the Detroit Continuum of Care, Detroit City Council, and Mayor of Detroit’s office, and financing for the property was facilitated by National Equity Fund, Inc. Furthermore, the development of this community catalyzed systemic changes particularly within the Detroit Continuum of Care to better evaluate the challenges homeless youth face so the population can be better prioritized to be placed in permanent supportive housing in the future.