Dear Write A House Supporter -
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As we wind down a crazy year, I hope you've had a moment or two to enjoy the season, with family and friends, and, maybe a bit of reflection. As I think about the past year, I wanted to write to thank you for your early support of Write A House, and to ask you for help once again.
Nearly three years ago, over 350 people from all over the country gave what they could to help us start something new. You were one of them.
Together, we raised over $30,000 to bring back a vacant house in Detroit, and award it to a writer. Less than a year later, Casey Rocheteau, the first Write A House winner, moved into her beautifully renovated home, to start a life here, and tell a new story. Since then, we've done it two more times, bringing writers Liana Aghajanian from Los Angeles, and Anne Elizabeth Moorefrom Chicago, to join Casey in their Banglatown neighborhood, on Detroit's near east side. Together, they're helping build a literary community here in the Motor City.
As we look to 2017, now two years since Casey moved in, we anticipate handing her the deed to her house! At the same time, we are also looking to a new neighborhood, Detroit's historic North End, where we'll be renovating a home for our fourth winner, native Detroit poet, Nandi Comer, as well as taking Write A House into its next phase. Nandi's an active light in the city's culture and resurgence, and has received fellowships from Virginia Center for the Arts, Cave Canem and Callaloo. You can check out poems and essays in To Light a Fire: 20 Years with the InsideOut Literary Arts Project, Detroit Anthology, and in Another and Another: An Anthology From the Grind Daily Writing Series, among many others.
So here's where you come in, again. I'm reaching out, and looking to you, the folks who propelled this crazy idea off the ground, to help us once more. We've launched a new $20,000 crowdfunding campaign to get the ball rolling for Nandi's house, as Write A House looks to 2017, and the future.
Please take a moment to give today. Generously.
Thank You! With your help, we can do this again for Detroit.
Sincerely Yours,
Francis Grunow
Write A House Board of Directors
