������

Between 7,000 and 14,000 children in Detroit are estimated to have been homeless in the 2017-18 school year, a found. Approximately 12% of these kids were identified by Detroit public and charter schools.

Courtney Ebonique Smith, founder and CEO of the , Detroit’s first and only drop-in center that caters to young people experiencing housing insecurity, says the best way to identify youth in need of support is with the help of other young people.

One way she’s done that is by creating a Youth Action Board at DPC — a team of young individuals who have experienced homelessness or are at risk of housing insecurity that develops solutions to issues they’ve observed in their communities related to housing, employment, education, and more.

Smith’s desire to bring young people to the forefront of the conversation stems from when she experienced housing insecurity herself. During her senior year of high school, she lived in a shelter at , a nonprofit organization that helps young girls and women experiencing homelessness, until she graduated. There, she learned how powerful a young person’s voice can be.

When Smith witnessed a few problems at AFG, she emailed then-CEO Amy Good with her concerns. Good scheduled a meeting with Smith and “listened to every concern that I had,” Smith says. A staff member later asked her to write up a proposal. After graduating from Eastern Michigan University in 2014, Smith discovered that AFG had implemented her recommendations. “I learned that my voice was valuable through that experience as well, and that always stuck with me.”

The idea behind DPC came to her after she participated in a cross-country train trip called the in 2016, when she learned about the different interventions other organizations were using to combat youth homelessness.

One concept that stuck out to Smith was a low-barrier, drop-in resource center where young people could take a shower, wash their clothes, enjoy a meal, and have access to various types of basic resources. When she returned to Detroit, she convened a group of young people experiencing homelessness to share her findings and get their input.

The next year, with the help of a $10,000 grant, Smith opened a drop-in center at the on Woodward Avenue for those ages 12 to 24. She named it the Detroit Phoenix Center to reflect the resilience and the spirit of young people. She worked there as a volunteer until 2018 when an anonymous donor awarded DPC $435,000 with the stipulation that “you’re the one that leads this organization.” Smith began that full-time job and hired staff, started an after-school program, expanded drop-in hours, and later moved DPC’s headquarters and center to YouthVille Detroit. Since then, DPC has developed a partnership with the Detroit Public Schools Community District and opened a drop-in center at Cody High School to help identify students who are experiencing housing insecurity.

As Smith looks forward to the future of DPC, she hopes it can fulfill its mission of creating “a world where every young person has a home and the resources that they need to dream and to live out the dreams that they have.”

This story originally appeared in the January 2025 issue of ������ Detroit magazine. To read more, including the full list of the 2025 ������ Detroiters pick up a copy of ������ Detroit at a local retail outlet. Our will be available on Jan. 6.��