The American Dream doesn’t always come with a white picket fence. Sometimes it starts in a sleek downtown Detroit office where Rob Frappier, rocking a creative director’s title at Rocket Community Fund, orchestrates a different kind of revolution. This isn’t your typical philanthropy playbook – it’s more like Ocean’s Eleven meets urban renewal, minus the heist and plus a whole lot of heart.
Frappier, who cut his teeth crafting Super Bowl commercials and spinning yarns over Dungeons & Dragons with his daughter, now wields his storytelling powers for something bigger: transforming Detroit’s housing landscape. Through programs like Dream Doors and Make It Home, he’s not just talking about change – he’s engineering it, turning renters into homeowners and vacant properties into vibrant futures.
In a world where down payments feel like climbing Everest and “affordable housing” sounds like an oxymoron, Frappier and his team are pulling off something remarkable. They’re cracking the code on urban housing challenges with the precision of a master locksmith and the vision of a street artist. Here’s how they’re making it happen, one Detroit dream at a time.
What inspired you to support and fund Dream Doors, and how does this initiative align with your personal mission and the goals of Rocket Community Fund?
The Rocket Community Fund’s mission is to simplify complex and inequitable systems to ensure that every American has access to stable, healthy housing. We were inspired to work with Rolling Out for the Dream Doors program because we wanted to provide Detroit residents with information on some of the unique efforts we support locally, most notably down payment assistance. Dream Doors brought people together in a friendly forum to get their questions answered and feel more confident about how they could take the next step toward the American Dream of homeownership.
As a driving force behind Dream Doors, what lasting benefits do you hope attendees will carry forward in their lives and communities?
I want attendees to come away from the event inspired and excited about the possibility of homeownership. The resources are out there, it’s just a matter of letting people know how to navigate them effectively.
Why was it essential to bring in strategic partners for Dream Doors, and how did these collaborations help maximize the event’s impact for participants?
It’s important to bring in experts and other strategic partners because they can speak to the practicalities of some of these programs and answer questions with a ton of depth and nuance. For example, one attendee was asking about a “rent to own” proposal from his current landlord. It was a very specific question, but our partners had the knowledge and experience to answer it with confidence. Even better, our panelists invited many members of their respective organizations, so there were plenty of experts to consult with during the lunch and mixer portions of the event.
As a funder, what do you see as your primary responsibility to the communities Rocket Community Fund serves, and how do you ensure that these investments create meaningful change?
Our primary responsibility to the communities we serve is simply to listen. We are a very data-driven organization, so understanding the needs of the community thoroughly is extremely important. From there, we focus on building programs and partnerships that address these needs in unique ways. Philanthropic funding offers a degree of flexibility that isn’t always possible through conventional approaches. We’re big proponents of public-private partnerships that maximize the impact of our funding and ensure that positive change from our investments is long-lasting.
What are some of the biggest challenges facing aspiring homeowners today, and how is Rocket Community Fund working to remove these obstacles?
One of the biggest challenges, and something we talked about a lot at Dream Doors, is saving money for a down payment. Many renters are paying the equivalent of a monthly mortgage each month, but can’t put together enough savings for a down payment. The City of Detroit’s Down payment Assistance program, which Rocket Community Fund supports, is a good example of an intervention that is working well.
Can you share a bit about the programs and resources Rocket Community Fund offers to help first-time buyers achieve their homeownership dreams?
As mentioned, our support for down payment assistance is one way we’re helping first-time homebuyers. In addition to the City of Detroit’s program, Rocket Community Fund also launched a down payment assistance program for Rehabbed & Ready, which is a program Rocket Community Fund launched with the Detroit Land Bank Authority.
In Detroit, it can be challenging to purchase a fully renovated home. In some neighborhoods, where home values are less than the cost of rehabilitation, it can also be difficult to finance repairs. The Rehabbed & Ready program was developed to address these challenges by using philanthropic funding from the Rocket Community Fund and others to renovate and sell homes for market value. University of Michigan research confirmed that Rehabbed & Ready is helping stabilize Detroit neighborhood values by replacing vacant properties with homes ready for purchase on the traditional real estate market.
How does Rocket Community Fund approach economic empowerment in underserved communities, and what outcomes do you aim to see through your work?
We believe that a healthy, stable home is the foundation for success in all aspects of life. When you are more secure in your home, it is easier to maintain employment, access educational resources and connect with the broader community. Additionally, homeownership is the best way to establish and pass on generational wealth.
We also make investments focused on creating pathways to employment for Detroiters. These investments equip residents with the necessary skills and resources, including industry-certified credentials and job opportunities, to build successful careers and increase their household income.
Through your work in funding and community support, what have been some of the most fulfilling experiences for you personally, and how have they influenced your perspective on giving?
One of the programs I love most is Make It Home, which is a unique partnership between Rocket Community Fund, City of Detroit, and the United Community Housing Coalition (UCHC). Rocket Community Fund has been dedicated to tax foreclosure prevention and reform for more than a decade. Through our research and canvassing, we learned that many of the residents impacted by tax foreclosure were renters who were unaware that their landlords weren’t paying the property taxes. Rather than allow these renters to lose their home, we asked if there was a way they could become homeowners instead.
Make It Home leverages the City of Detroit’s “right of refusal,” allowing the City to purchase properties before the tax foreclosure auction for the value of the back taxes owed. These properties are then purchased by the United Community Housing Coalition using philanthropic funding from Rocket Community Fund and others. UCHC sells the properties to the occupants through a 0% interest land contract with a payment plan that enables each resident to make payments into an escrow account for roughly a year until they reach the purchase price for their property.
In total, we’ve helped 1,600 families become homeowners through this innovative program. The reason it’s my favorite is because we were able to take an inherently destructive system that lead to displacement and instability and turned it into one that builds generational wealth for Detroit families.
