Genesee County, MI — On Monday, March 2, representatives from the Genesee County Treasurer’s Office and Legal Services of Eastern Michigan (LSEM) joined with the Rocket Community Fund to announce an investment in the people of Genesee County.

The Genesee County Treasurer’s Office received a $100,000 one-year grant from Rocket Community Fund (RCF) to expand property tax exemption assistance and strengthen foreclosure prevention efforts for eligible homeowners across Genesee County. Legal Services of Eastern Michigan also received $90,000 in grant funding from RCF.

The event, held in the Community Room at the new Genesee County Administration Building in Downtown Flint, brought together numerous people and organizations focused on housing security in Genesee County. Gary Goetzinger, Vice Chairman of the Genesee County Board of Commissioners, and Sheldon Neeley, the Mayor of Flint, were also on hand to offer remarks in support of the funding.

The grants will support proactive outreach, application processing, housing counseling, and direct client assistance to help residents access available relief and maintain housing stability.

“For over a decade, Rocket Community Fund has been committed to preventing tax foreclosure and keeping at-risk families in their homes,” said Laura Grannemann, Executive Director at Rocket Community Fund. “These investments are the first steps to expanding that focus statewide to ensure that all Michiganders have access to stable housing and the prosperity that comes with it.”

Genesee County Treasurer Sam Muma said the funding will help the Treasurer’s Office connect more residents to vital support, especially those who may not know help is available or who face barriers navigating the process.

“We’re grateful to Rocket Community Fund for this investment in our community,” Muma said. “This grant helps us meet people where they are by recognizing the challenges that many of our residents face. When we bring assistance directly to the community, we can help more homeowners stay in their homes, stabilize families, and strengthen neighborhoods. We want to play an active role in community development across the county, and this is one major step in that direction.”

Property tax foreclosure poses a significant threat to Michigan homeowners, particularly those with limited incomes. The state of Michigan’s property tax exemption program, known as the HOPE program in Detroit and Flint, offers eligible low-income homeowners the opportunity to reduce or eliminate property tax obligations so they can remain stably housed and preserve generational wealth. 

Rocket Community Fund has focused on property tax foreclosure prevention and reform in Detroit since 2013, when Rocket Companies Chairman and Founder Dan Gilbert was named co-chair of the Federal Detroit Blight Removal Taskforce. Through programs like Neighbor to Neighbor, an annual canvassing initiative that delivered property tax exemption information and other resources directly to residents, Rocket Community Fund helped reduce property tax foreclosures in Wayne County from a peak of 28,323 in 2015 to 2,111 in 2024 — a 93% reduction.

The Genesee County Treasurer’s Office will use the grant to increase awareness of property tax exemption resources, assist with applications, and connect eligible homeowners to counseling and direct support designed to prevent foreclosure and promote long-term housing stability.

About Rocket Community Fund

Rocket Community Fund aims to simplify complex and inequitable systems to ensure that every American has access to stable, healthy housing. It also invests in people and practices that provide meaningful opportunities for education and employment.

Through its For-More-Than-Profit model, Rocket Community Fund recognizes that business and community are inextricably linked, and it purposefully harnesses team member talent, technology, policy advocacy and philanthropic resources to invest in comprehensive community development in Detroit and across the country.

Alongside financial investments, Rocket Community Fund has organized Rocket Companies, Bedrock, and other affiliated team members to provide more than one million volunteer hours nationwide, including more than 720,000 in Detroit.

For more information, contact Robin Teeples in the Office of the Genesee County Treasurer at (810) 257-3481.