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Dear Partner,

Christmas 2022 was filled with family, love, and cozy socks and blankets as the temps dropped well below 0 degrees. As cold as it was, we definitely weren’t expecting the phone call we received on 12/26/22.

A pipe had frozen and burst on the third floor of our building, causing pressurized water to flood the entire building — including our 5600 sq ft of space right below on the second floor. One and a half million gallons of water flowed through the building. For reference, an Olympic size swimming pool has about 660,000 gallons of water in it. Needless to say, nothing was salvageable.

I cried as I watched them tear up the walls to dry them out. This beautiful space, designed by our first ever group of students, and made to be a home by hundreds of students after, was ruined. But the crying couldn’t last long. We had one week before the kids were back for programming and had to find a temporary space so that we could continue to serve them; they counted on us and our team.

Close to one year later, we remain in that temporary space, making FATE work at 6001 Cass Avenue in Detroit. And while the space is beautiful, and we are grateful, we all know - there’s no place like home.

I am pleased to report that through this disaster we have:

• Continued high school and alumni programming as intended with no interruption
• Graduated 100% of the FATE Class of 2023 & retained all FATE Program students (200+)
• Recruited a new 9th grade FATE cohort (27 new students)
• Hired 8 new team members
• Transferred the love and safety wrapped up into our home base into a new space

That being said, in order to continue doing this work at the highest quality possible, we need your help. There is one budget line that significantly increased due to the flood: Rent.

Our temporary space has quadrupled our normal budget for rent. At $8,000 per month, we are looking at an additional $96,000 over the next year. That’s why we’ve set our end of the year campaign goal at $100,000 – help us take care of the next year of rent and any incidentals as we navigate uncertainty while providing a stable home base for our students.

Your past support has helped us build something special. As we rebuild, we need you.

With so much gratitude,

Kuhu Saha, Co-Founder and Executive Director