Dear DREAM Supporter,
As salamu alaykum! Peace be upon you.
This email’s hard to write. But in the spirit of radical honesty and transparency, I’m just going to say it: we need your help to put the finishing touches on our transitional home rehab for formerly incarcerated men.
Rehabbing the nearly 100-year-old homes in our neighborhood can be hard sometimes. Especially when you start in the winter months, the timelines start to stretch out and budgets can wear thin. That repair your contractor estimated at $1,000 is actually $2,000. That roof you thought was secure? Turns out it had a sneaky leak at the chimney causing you to re-do work to fix unexpected water damage.
Anyone who’s ever worked in construction will tell you that these things happen. But none of that matters to the brothers in need of a place to start fresh right now. What’s a time and budget issue on paper for an organization is a daily struggle for the person anticipating a stable place to call home for a while. And that’s why it’s eating away at me.
Honestly, sending this email feels a little bit like failure because we’d hoped to have this home ready by Ramadan, but I have no choice but to humble myself and ask:
Can you make a tax-deductible donation today to help us finish this important rehab?
If we can raise $5,000 right now, we can get this thing done and move on from transforming a house to transforming lives, God-willing.
Any amount that you can give will help — and I’ll personally match the first $1,000.
Of course, as always, if you can’t give financially right now, your prayers are welcome 🙂
Thanks for your continued support.
Peace & Blessings,
Mark Crain and the Dream of Detroit Team
P.S. Some of our current neighborhood residents have fallen on hard times this past year and we’re collecting zakat for their expenses. Click here if you can support and help keep a roof over a family’s head.
P.P.S. Today, our local community is laying to rest an elder and longtime community servant, Brother Kofi Royal. He was a caretaker of the earth who touched many many lives. Please remember Brother Kofi in your prayers on this last Friday in Ramadan.
Bro. Kofi, center, planting a tree outside the Muslim Center at DREAM’s first tree-planting day in 2015.
