Michele Oberholtzer lives in Hamtramck and works in Detroit. She is the director of the Tax Foreclosure Prevention Project for United Community Housing Coalition, where she counsels residents facing tax foreclosure and advocates to keep every Detroit family in their home.
She is a counselor. She has directly served thousands of residents across Detroit and Wayne County in their efforts to save their homes from tax foreclosure. Her mission is that no one should ever lose their home for lack of information.
She is an advocate, creating and managing programs that help homeowners save their homes and that help ensure that if any occupied home is in foreclosure, it is the resident who has the chance to buy it. In 2017, the Tax Foreclosure Prevention Project counseled 5,400 residents and made 127 new homeowners in Detroit- that’s more mortgages that were issued in Detroit than the top three major banks combined.
She is an engineer, having graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.
She is an environmentalist, with experience in renewable energy and energy efficiency for buildings. In her work with Next Energy, she specialized in bringing solar energy to Detroit’s manufacturing industry.
She is the founder of The Tricycle Collective, a volunteer-powered, women-led, non-profit that has provided over $89,000 in direct contributions to more than 100 low-income families with young children. The Tricycle Collective also hosts local events to raise awareness about the housing foreclosure crisis and creates resources to reduce the information gap on critical issues that lead to homelessness and foreclosure.
She is a writer, with work published in Metro Times, ModelD Media, Occupy.com, Deadline Detroit, and on her website at www.oberdoit.com.
She is an adventurer, most notably having completed a 700-mile solo hike across Northern Michigan during the summer of 2013.
She is an award-winning storyteller, featured on The Moth radio hour and other local programs.
We encourage you to get to know Michele and learn more about this inspiring community leader!
