Detroit Organization to Manage Mod Pod Housing Program
Lansing city officials announced that Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries will run the long-awaited transitional housing program known as the NOVA Housing Initiative. As the only applicant for the job, DRMM will manage the day-to-day operations and case management of the Mod Pod community, intended for people experiencing homelessness.
Leaders called this a major step for the program, which was designed to provide transitional shelter and longer-term support for the city’s unhoused.
Mod Pods, shown in a file photo
In a press release, Mayor Andy Schor described the group as “a well-qualified and respected organization working with the unhoused communities across Michigan.”
“Daily operation and case management for the residents here will be critical for the success of the program, and DRMM is ready to get to work on this program,” he said. “Work continues to progress rapidly on site preparation and pre-construction planning and we look forward to physical construction happening very soon.”
According to the DRMM website, the organization started serving Detroit’s homeless and addicted communities in 1909, and is one of the state’s largest housing and treatment providers.
The announcement is part of the city’s broader mission to establish more of the needed housing and support for the unhoused in Lansing, an ongoing struggle for the city. The latest city-commissioned study found rates have increased in Lansing, with at least 2,371 people experiencing homelessness in 2023.
In August 2025, Lansing City Council members approved the purchase of 50 Mod Pod units. The possible location for the pods was widely contested by residents before the city finally designated a portion of a parking lot behind the Ingham County Department of Health and Human Services as the location, during a special joint meeting of city officials in January.
The annual cost of running the pods, including restrooms, laundry facilities, community room, meeting and training spaces, 24/7 security, and “resident empowerment programming,” is estimated at $952,335.
The City Council set aside about $1.9 million for site preparation and construction. That amount includes $600,00 from the Ingham County Housing Trust to purchase the units, said city spokesman Scott Bean.
Chad Audi, president and CEO of DRMM said the partnership will bring the community together. “It’s not going to be staffed by people from Detroit,” he said in an interview. “It’s going to be Lansing people serving Lansing people.”
The City of Lansing and DRMM previously partnered during an emergency winter warming center initiative. The warming centers, designed to allow people to stay overnight, received backlash from the public due to the building’s lack of sleeping accommodations. Audi said the facilities were inadequate to “really provide the quality service that we want to.”
