Camp Restore Detroit: Restoring Peace Through Hard Work, Prayer, and Presence

In a city defined by its abandoned homes and empty lots that have borne witness to decades of trauma, Camp Restore Detroit has quietly become a place of revival and refuge.

In partnership with Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, Camp Restore is a faith-based volunteer and neighborhood restoration program located in Detroit’s Denby neighborhood.

Far from a traditional community violence intervention group, their work aims to support the city in violence reduction through environmental repair, community beautification, and service-based outreach.

Each year, hundreds of local and national volunteers paint, clean, build, mow, haul, and heal at Camp Restore. From repairing abandoned homes to converting empty lots into lush new green spaces, they aim to reduce physical and psychological triggers for violence. 

A blighted house cannot pull a trigger, but it can create the despair that can lead to such situations.

Camp Restore wants to put an end to that.

They also house and feed visiting volunteer groups in dorm-style accommodations – one of the city’s few full-service camps. 

Together with other community violence intervention groups like the Denby Neighborhood Alliance, they support safe-zone development, youth engagement, and host healing spaces for families affected by violence, utilizing Christian-based service work to make a strong social impact across religions, races, and generations. 

In short: Camp Restore doesn’t just restore homes.

They restore faith in a brighter tomorrow.