Financial stability is out of reach for many Detroit households. Together, we can change that.

More than half of Detroiters are financially insecure or in financial trouble. A recent report from University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions shows that a combination of low and volatile incomes and disproportionately high costs makes it challenging for tens of thousands of Detroiters to maintain consistently positive cash flow and build savings. This leads many households to accrue unmanageable debt and suffer low credit scores.

The Detroit Financial Well-being Innovation Challenge calls on everyone – from nonprofit organizations and community groups, to corporations and financial institutions, to those who know what it’s like to face these barriers firsthand – to submit their ideas and lend their support.

The Detroit Financial Well-being Innovation Challenge will provide seed funding and technical assistance to test and refine these ideas over several years, with active community involvement along the way. The challenge will prioritize ideas that create change at a structural or systemic level so that Detroiters can thrive financially. Over the course of the challenge, successful applicants will launch their ideas into functioning programs and initiatives.

Are you up to the challenge? Get involved now!

Challenge Timeline

Learn more about the five year challenge process.

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News and media

Read all about our challenge coverage.

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Concept Stage

February – May 2022

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Planning Stage

June 2022 – March 2023

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Pilot Stage

August 2023 – July 2024

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Scale Stage

Begins Summer 2024

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THE DETROIT FINANCIAL WELL-BEING INNOVATION CHALLENGE IS MADE POSSIBLE BY: