Our Commitment To Leveraging Social Capital In Metro Detroit Communities

Communities of HOPE (CoH) is a resource connector. We offer resources to help strengthen and sustain families and the community. We leverage traditional supportive services from our local partners.

Our partners help us learn more about residents. They provide us with communication access and the ability to collaborate with other local nonprofits.

We focus on the whole development of residents and the challenges that they meet every day, including health, educational, employment, financial, and entrepreneurial. Through a variety of initiatives, we create lasting success and sustainability without relying on the usage of grant money or donations to foster change. Our resources benefit residents by ensuring access to the services they need. So they aren’t dependent on affordable housing and subsidies.


A man holding a ball in his hand while another hand touches his arm. | What We Do at Communities of HOPE

Detroit Fire Department fire truck with firefighter standing outside of it, holding the door. | What We Do at Communities of HOPE

We do this through the recirculation of revenue in each targeted community. By strategically leveraging the community’s purchasing power while forming effective partnerships with local socially responsible businesses. Our organization applies those profits to the areas of need identified through case studies, and surveys obtained before each collaboration.

We learned the turnover rates are usually higher due to the cost of poverty and unmanaged financials. This can extend into food stamps spent on junk food that affects not only the obesity rates but also the dropout rates as well. We began to wonder, “Why do we have so many people who lose their homes in affordable housing or are evicted?”

The reasons why affordable housing residents would lose their homes became the inspiration for our 4 Pillars of HOPE. How we address those areas for change inspired our 16 Levers of Change.

Since beginning our mission, affordable housing properties experienced an average turnover rate of 10% or less within all our properties, which is 2x as efficient and profitable for all organizations involved, including the success of our residents. Also, our residents do not have to change their lives to accommodate their lives as the cost of living takes a toll. Children are staying within their schools in the same school districts and families, step-by-step, are improving their ways of life.

We operate within the Eastern region of the United States, including Indiana, Michigan, South Carolina, and more to come. Stay tuned to learn as we continue to expand our resources and locations.

Kids playing outside with CoH volunteers helping. | What We Do at Communities of HOPE

What We Do - Communities of Hope - Our Mission

Our Mission

Connect affordable housing residents to resources that will break generational poverty and other current social issues, while having a positive impact on their quality of life.

Our Focus

Strengthen the families of affordable housing communities and provide generational hope, while guiding them towards self-sufficiency.

What We Do - Communities of Hope - Our Focus

What We Do - Communities of Hope - Upward Mobility

A Path For Families To Upward Mobility

By implementing the 4 Pillars of HOPE using the 16 Levers of Change, generational poverty will be eliminated. Through these initiatives and collaborative efforts of other like-minded organizations working together, families are offered the skills and abilities to change their quality of life and give them a promising tomorrow.

LEARN ABOUT OUR 4 PILLARS

Communities of HOPE Testimonials

I am very grateful for the opportunity to connect with Communities of HOPE (CoH) in my community.

Kino Smith introduced me to CoH. The way he passionately shared his heart and what COH was as all about, I knew it was a divine connection. CoH has been a tremendous support to me. I have been able to serve the young girls (The Girls Factory) in multiple CoH communities. I have met some of the most loving, kind, and compassionate people that serve with CoH.

Rick has been extremely helpful with supporting my vision for our youth. As I bring ideas to implement programs, such as Michigan State 4-H Extension, Rick continues to provide moral support, words of wisdom, encouragement, and he helps explain my vision to the leaders of CoH who in turn provides the much needed and appreciated financial support!

CoH stands for what I believe in, and they welcome, support, and provide opportunities for organizations, like ours, to enhance, enrich, and empower families. Rick and CoH have given me the hope to continue to believe in my dreams and grow. I pray that as we continue to serve with CoH that our God will continue to enlarge our territory for His Glory!
– Kimberly A. Clemons, Community-Youth Advocate, “The Girls Factory,” and CoH resident

Communities of HOPE works tirelessly on behalf of the residents of Gardenview Estates – enriching the lives of families and children on a daily basis. We are very fortunate to have them as a partner and we are tremendously grateful to them for their efforts.”
– Norstar Development USA, L.P.

I believe CoH is a great program. They are helping the community in a variety of ways. The program itself gives us hope when at times we don’t think we have any. I’m grateful for the founders of this program because without them, there wouldn’t be a COH.
– David Taylor, CoH resident

I would like to share how ‘Community of HOPE’ (C.O.H) and Mr. Fulgenzi (organizer of C.O.H) helped my family and I honor my mother’s legacy of giving back to the community.

For many years, my mother, the late Ruth A. Williams, fed families in Herman Gardens and other surrounding communities, as well as distributed backpacks filled with school supplies. On December 15, 2011, my mom passed away.

In 2014, I sat down with Mr. Fulgenzi and shared my interest in wanting to honor my mom’s service to the community by reviving her backpack drive. He was very delighted about the idea and got right on it.

On August 27, 2014, Garden View Estates Inc. and C.O.H launched its first ‘Ruth A. Williams Back to School Day’ event. We were able to bless 200 kids with backpacks filled with school supplies and fed 150 families. It’s been seven years and with the help of C.O.H my family has continued to carry on my mom’s legacy.

We, the family of the late Ruth A. Williams would like to thank you for all you have done and continue to do. God Bless!
– Tonya Tatum, CoH resident

Communities of HOPE Inc. are not only heavenly sent for the community, but for those small organizations serving the community as well. My name is Crystal Monea, and I am the founder of Destined to Heal.

Our organization serves the community on many levels from adults to teens as our desire is to esteem, educate, and encourage our community towards ethical and communal values. We offer Parenting Classes, Life Skills, and Job Readiness to teens and adults in need. We also help to relocate those who are trying to escape domestic violence situations. We offer trauma based counseling for those who are in need of mental and emotional relief, those with trauma from molestation, rape, mental and physical abuse.

On October 1st, 2018, we opened our first Women’s Transitional Housing (Broken Hearts Beat), servicing mothers with children having a hard time navigating through motherhood and all of its responsibilities. Lastly, we have a mentoring program, ‘Daughters of Destiny,’ for youth girls between the ages of 11 to 18 years old. Each girl is given a mentor that holds a position in their dream career. We host monthly Life Development Sessions and community service outings every 3 months.

CoH made this possible for me – I was without an office to work out of and not ONLY was I offered an office in March 2019, but it was RENT FREE! Happy 1 Year Anniversary to ME!

I am not only able to service the communities at large, but I’m also able to offer my services to the communities that CoH are involved with, and what a blessing it has been! I found it hard to find a mentor or organization to team up with, to work together in one effort, and to collectively serve the community as a whole with multiple streams of resources available to them.

CoH welcomed me in and made this happen; their vision and mission from my eyes are to make the community WHOLE! Our community needs much more than restoration because to restore means to take back to its original state, and it’s been proving that state didn’t work. Our community is in need of Renovation and Renewal, Hope, Focus, Energy, Efforts, and Resources, and CoH is doing just that! I am so honored to have met Rick and Dr. Patman! They are just the Hope our Community needs!
– Crystal Lewis, founder of Destined to Heal