Detroit Regional Chamber Launches ‘Open Door’ Program to Provide Basic Needs, Eliminate Barriers to Educational Attainment
July 30, 2026
- The Chamber’s Detroit Drives Degrees is leading the program in partnership with Henry Ford College, Wayne State University, and United Way for Southeastern Michigan.
- The program will help more students make it to graduation and into the regional workforce.
Today, Detroit Drives Degrees, a Detroit Regional Chamber education and talent program, launched Open Door, an on-campus, in-person student support program developed in partnership with Henry Ford College, Wayne State University, and United Way for Southeastern Michigan. The initiative helps students navigate challenges such as housing instability, financial emergencies, childcare needs, transportation barriers, and food insecurity.
National research shows that 41% of college students experience food insecurity and 48% experience housing insecurity. Nearly eight in 10 students who have stopped out of college or considered stopping out cite basic needs or financial challenges as a contributing factor. By providing coordinated navigation and support, Open Door helps students more easily access the resources they need to stay enrolled, persist through challenges, and complete a credential.
“Michigan’s economic future, competitiveness, and workforce depend on more students completing postsecondary credentials, and the data proves it. Our State of Education and Talent report showed that those with a bachelor’s degree or higher achieve a net worth five times that of those with just a high school diploma, and nearly two-thirds of the state’s top-paying jobs go to those with four-year degrees. Continuing the work to eliminate barriers to student success is imperative, and the Chamber is proud to innovate in that space through Open Door.”
– Sandy K. Baruah, President and Chief Executive Officer, Detroit Regional Chamber
These interventions are an important tool for ensuring that more students can complete their education and enter the workforce prepared for the jobs of the future. A growing body of research demonstrates that meeting students’ basic needs is fundamental to their academic success and long-term economic prospects. In a 2025 report, Michigan’s Student Basic Needs Task Force identified this as a critical strategy to improve credential attainment, strengthen workforce participation, advance economic mobility, and help the state achieve its Sixty by 30 educational attainment goals.
“We know many students leave college not because of academic challenges, but because of unexpected life circumstances, and the Chamber, with our partners at United Way, Henry Ford College, and Wayne State University, is deeply committed to ensuring students don’t bear those burdens alone or without support. Open Door is a truly collaborative effort to help more students complete their education and enter the workforce prepared and empowered.”
– Meghan Schmidbauer, Senior Director, Detroit Drives Degrees, Detroit Regional Chamber
What makes this program unique is that United Way will be on campus to facilitate these supports — literally meeting students where they are. A key feature of the model is that students need to tell their story only once. Through a warm referral process, a dedicated United Way staff member works with each student to identify solutions and connect them with campus and community resources, providing support until those solutions are in place.
“Every day, we see people working to build a better future who are forced to make impossible choices between paying rent, buying groceries, finding reliable transportation, or staying in school. Those challenges don’t disappear just because someone steps onto a college campus, ” says Darienne Hudson, President and Chief Executive Officer of United Way for Southeastern Michigan. “Through Open Door and in partnership with the Chamber, Wayne State University, and Henry Ford College, we are bringing support directly to students, helping to remove the barriers on their pathway to prosperity.”
The pilot is focused on students participating in Detroit Promise, Detroit Reconnect, and Michigan Reconnect at Henry Ford College and Wayne State University. Whether a participant in these programs or not, no student seeking support will be turned away.
“Detroit Promise, Michigan Reconnect, and Detroit Reconnect open the doors to higher education for many students at Henry Ford College,” said David M. Knezek Jr., President of Henry Ford College. “We know that tuition assistance is a powerful tool, but oftentimes, students are still forced to leave college for reasons that have nothing to do with their studies. We are excited to partner with United Way on the Open Door project because our strategic plan is built on student success. Providing a dedicated advocate on our campuses to make sure our students have what they need outside of the classroom will allow them to better focus on their studies and get to graduation.”
“Wayne State’s mission has always been to ensure that talent and determination – not circumstance – define a student’s future,” said Wayne State University President Richard A. Bierschbach. “As Michigan’s leading university for social mobility, we know that removing barriers outside the classroom is just as important as providing excellence inside it, and partnerships like Open Door will help more students earn their degrees, achieve their goals, and strengthen the future of Detroit and our state.”
Additionally, the Chamber received funding from The Kresge Foundation to evaluate the pilot along with the Detroit Area Talent Fund (DATF), an emergency grant opportunity for college students from the Detroit Region. The initial funding for DATF came primarily from the Rocket Community Fund, the Skillman Foundation, the Ford Fund, and Michigan Central. The idea for Open Door came from the DATF pilot, which received an overwhelming response and distributed emergency grant dollars at lightning speed.
About the Partners
- Henry Ford College and Wayne State University are the participating colleges.
- United Way for Southeastern Michigan is the service provider.
- Detroit PEER and Youth Policy Lab at the University of Michigan are the evaluation partners.
- Students from Detroit Promise, Michigan Reconnect (housed at the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential), and Detroit Reconnect represent the pilot population for this initiative.
Learn more about the initiative at detroitchamber.com/open-door.
About TalentEd at the Detroit Regional Chamber
TalentEd is the premier business-led talent development initiative for Southeast Michigan. A prosperity initiative of the Detroit Regional Chamber, TalentEd is shaped by leading CEOs. It empowers employers and institutions of higher education to develop tomorrow’s talent now and create a more prosperous future for the Region. The Chamber is the only organization that brings together business, education, government, philanthropy, and community groups from across the Region to collectively strengthen the postsecondary talent pipeline and grow the pool of credentialed, educated workers through scalable programs that ensure employers have the highly skilled workforce needed to compete. Learn more at detroitchamber.com/talented.