Freedom House, a Detroit nonprofit serving survivors of torture and others seeking humanitarian protection in the U.S., is set to break ground Tuesday on a $6 million expansion and renovation of its main site.  

The project, which includes support from large private and corporate foundations, will create transitional housing units for up to 100 people at the site, including larger units for families.

The expansion and renovation “will ultimately give the people, children and families coming to us a dignified space to rebuild their lives,” CEO Elizabeth Orozco-Vasquez said.

In 2018, Freedom House acquired the two-story building at 1777 N. Rademacher St. in Southwest Detroit, less than 3 miles from the Ambassador Bridge to Canada.

The existing 6,000-square-foot building is not large enough to accommodate the 75-100 people in transitional housing there. Multiple cots fill a living room area at the site, Orozco-Vasquez said.

The project will add 4,900 square feet and six new family units, each with a separate bathroom. The units will be able to accommodate families of up to six people, something Freedom House has not been able to do in the past, Orozco-Vasquez said. With them, it will have 17 total units of transitional housing for up to 100 people.

The expansion will also create a large community room to provide space for adult workshops, play and dance therapy for children, something the site has not been able to offer in some time with the surge of people who have come for help in recent years, Orozco-Vasquez said.

Some 5,000 square feet of the existing building will also be renovated to expand resident rooms and laundry facilities, create office space and add a commercial kitchen and possibly a dining room so residents don’t have to eat in shifts, Orozco-Vasquez said.

Outside, a park-like setting with a shelter pavilion is planned.

The building expansion is set to be completed by spring 2026 and the building renovations a year after, Orozco-Vasquez said.

Ferndale-based Fusco, Shaffer & Pappas Inc. is the architect on the project and Plymouth-based J.S. Vig Construction Co. is the general contractor.

The $6 million campaign to fund the project is the largest in Freedom House’s 41 years. It has raised $4.5 million over the past two years.

Funders include Michigan State Housing Development Authority, city of Detroit, McGregor Fund, Carls Foundation, Song Foundation, Kresge Foundation, Detroit Wayne County Port Authority, Impact 100, Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and Huntington Foundation.

“We attracted heavy hitters. I think it’s because the broader city of Detroit understands the need for the service we provide,” Orozco-Vasquez said.

Operating on a $2 million budget, Freedom House provides its clients with legal services, transitional housing and permanent housing assistance and job placement assistance. Some 90% of clients move from Freedom House into their own permanent housing and don’t return to homelessness, Orozco-Vasquez said.

Freedom House is serving 177 people — a number that has been trending down — between its main site and a second leased site on the city’s east side, she said.

The long-planned expansion and renovation comes amid federal funding pressures. More than half of the nonprofit’s budget is tied to federal funding.

“Like many other organizations in the community, we are feeling the pressures of added scrutiny but we have not had any cuts, yet,” Orozco-Vasquez said. “We do have a really strong community that wants to support what we want to do.”