ABOUT RUTH ANN LOGUE:
"Grew up in Auburn, Alabama, where I went to college. Married my high school sweetheart. Moved to AA in 1993 for my husband to join the U of M Law School faculty. Raised our 6 children here."
RESOURCES:
TRANSCRIPTION:
David Fair: This is 89 one WEMU, and welcome to another edition of Washtenaw United. This is our weekly exploration of equity and opportunity in our community. I'm David Fair, and, this week, we're going to look at the process of turning a house into a home for those exiting a period of being unhoused. Finding affordable living space is hard enough. Then add in the cost of furnishing the space and creating the atmosphere that makes it yours--well, that can be cost prohibitive. In one of the more creative nonprofit endeavors I've encountered, an Ann Arbor-based organization is made its mission to do just that. In fact, you can tell by its name. It's called House N2 Home. It does beautiful work and helps individuals and families transition into their new lives in decorative ways. Our guest today is Ruth Ann Logue, and Ruth Ann is a co-founder and co-director of House N2 Home. And thanks for decorating the WEMU airwaves today! I appreciate it!
Ruth Ann Logue: It's a pleasure to be here!
David Fair: Was there a life or personal experience, Ruth Ann, that led you to help a found House N2 Home back in 2019?
Ruth Ann Logue: Yes. Actually, there was. And it started two years before that, actually. So, in 2016, a friend of mine--a young single mom--found herself and her three children homeless. They were able to find shelter space here in Washtenaw County and then began the arduous process of trying to secure housing. That took her a full 90 days, and with some help from some friends to help find that housing, she was set to move in early 2017. But she was going to be moving into an empty place. She had been homeless as a younger person and remembered transitioning out of homelessness and into an empty apartment and shared with me that that space had really never felt like home to her. So, I gathered a group of friends together, and we just determined this was going to be a different story. So, the day that she and her three children exited that shelter, they came home to a fully furnished home. We had dinner prepared. There were fresh flowers and homemade cookies. The children's rooms were decorated in their preference of their color.
David Fair: And what kind of reaction did that garner?
Ruth Ann Logue: I think it was just complete shock. Just joy. The children were so happy to be able to be home, to have their own beds, to sleep in, decorated in their favorite colors and princesses and robots for the little boy. And a year later, her landlord called me. And he was going to be renting houses to two women who were exiting Safehouse. Both had been victims of domestic violence. Both did not have any family in the area or any help. And he just asked, "Ruth Ann, could you gather your friends back together andfurnish these two homes for these two moms." And so, I gathered that same group of friends together. And we did those two houses and then we just started kind of thinking about this sort of whole in-services. Obviously, there are some some ways you could get furniture in Washtenaw County, but this was a little different. We didn't want to just provide furniture. We wanted to allow this family or individual who's coming out of this period of being unhoused to really dream about what their new space is going to feel like. The children love marble or blue, or they want to test that, or they really need a recliner because you're hovering. We want all those things to show up, so that it actually feels like home.
David Fair: And a lot of us take it for granted that this is an all-too-common story in the area.
Ruth Ann Logue: Yeah, it really is. You know, we started out, when we really got together, like you mentioned, it was 2019. That year, we did 31 homes and we were thinking, "Wow! You know, this feels like a lot!" The next year, which is 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, we did 134, and it's just grown since then. It's been like as we've grown and seen more and more agencies that feed into us, we started with one. We started with Alpha House. And now, we have 50 agencies that we serve. So, it's not just individuals and families who are exiting the shelter. It is people coming who've been living in their car, people who've been in a tent, people who've been sleeping on somebody's floor, returning citizens, kids aging out of the foster care system. So, this last year in 2024, we furnished 424 homes in Washtenaw County.
David Fair: This is Washtenaw United on 89 one WEMU. And today, we're talking with House N2 Home co-founder Ruth Ann Logue. And we've talked about that homelessness as an issue as is affordable housing in the area. The U.S. Census Bureau says that about 12% of Washtenaw County's population is Black. But a recent count found about 50% of the unhoused in our community are Black. Does House N2 Home prioritize serving traditionally underserved and marginalized people in our community?
Ruth Ann Logue: Well, by definition, homelessness impacts the marginalized. So, we are serving anyone who's coming out of homelessness. So, there is poverty that is wrapped up in that whole piece of homelessness. But there's also often mental health issues or health issues, issues around transportation, finding a job. So, all of these things are impacting the marginalized more.
David Fair: And that's where your partnerships come in, right, so that you can create kind of a wraparound service together?
Ruth Ann Logue: Yes. I mean, we are very honest. We know that we are not changing the system. We have so many amazing organizations in Washtenaw County that are working so hard to do that. And we are just an extra piece of that puzzle of trying to take one thing off of a client's plate that might be cost prohibitive: trying to find beds and a couch, a place to eat, stock your kitchen, shower curtains, towels, all those things, every single thing that a family or individual would need to start over. A big piece that I didn't mention was we have a strong environmental pillar at House N2 Home, and that we are trying to save as much as we can from the landfill. And we refurbish. That means we may have to repaint or repair, but we have a whole team of people that repair and paint and restore pieces that they have a useful second life.
David Fair: Where does the money come from, so that you can go in and help someone turn a living space into a home?
Ruth Ann Logue: That's a great question. We've just been really incredibly lucky to have Trinity Health come alongside us and really see the power in what we're doing. They lease us 40,000 square feet of storage space on their campus. And they leave that to us for a dollar a year. We're able to store a large inventory of items. So, you can imagine that we're doing. Let's say we're doing 6 to 8 moves a week. We have to have space to store that many couches and many more for the next week. So, that's been a huge piece of us being able to afford to do this. Otherwise, we've had foundations support us, some local businesses, some corporations, a lot of individuals. We're able to subsist on a pretty strict budget in that the paid workers that we have are what we call our heavy lifters. So, we have a group of guys who now do all of our heavy lifting, in terms of moving stuff around storage, picking up donations from the community, helping us load and unload our truck when we move a client and setting up the heavy furniture in a new apartment. So currently, the directors and other management team members all donate their time, so we currently don't really pay salaries.
David Fair: Well, once again, it comes back to the old adage that it really does take a village, right?
Ruth Ann Logue: That's exactly right!
David Fair: Well, as our time together starts to run out, Ruth Ann, I do want to ask a final question. For those who are hearing the name House N2 Home, they might assume that it is "house" and then the word "into," I-N-T-O, "home." But as an organization, you've spelled it out as "house" the letter N, the number two, and then "home." So, what went into making that choice when you were creating the nonprofit?
Ruth Ann Logue: Well, I spent probably eight hours trying to figure out what we were going to call this thing. And honestly, we wanted the word "into," I-N-T-O, but somebody had it already.
David Fair: Ah, okay.
Ruth Ann Logue: Yep! There's no magic to it! It's just we really wanted to say we are taking a house, and we are turning it into a home. And it worked out, though, because, also, we shorthand it H-N-2-H, so that kind of works. But yeah, no special reason other than it was we had to work with.
David Fair: Well, it works! And it's making a difference! And I appreciate the work that you and your organization are doing! And I appreciate your time today!
Ruth Ann Logue: Thank you!
David Fair: That is Ruth Ann Logue. She is co-founder and co-director of House N2 Home, an Ann Arbor-based nonprofit. For more information and links to the work the organization is doing and the impact it's making, pay a visit to our website when you get a chance. It's wemu.org! Washtenaw United is produced in partnership with the United Way for southeastern Michigan, and you hear it every Monday. I'm David Fair, and this is your community NPR station, 89 one, WEMU FM, Ypsilanti.
WEMU has partnered with the United Way for Southeastern Michigan to explore the people, organizations, and institutions creating opportunity and equity in our area. And, as part of this ongoing series, you’ll also hear from the people benefiting and growing from the investments being made in the areas of our community where there are gaps in available services. It is a community voice. It is 'Washtenaw United.'
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