Building Bridges Gala

The Building Bridges Gala is PFC’s annual fundraising event to further our mission of ending chronic homelessness in Detroit. The Building Bridges Gala is an incredibly important night for PFC, raising critical funds and awareness of our mission to support our friends experiencing homelessness with love and dignity. The evening includes a cocktail hour, silent and live auction with unique items and once-in-a-lifetime experiences, a delicious gourmet dinner, and a program sure to insure.

2025 Gala Honorees

Every year, we honor people or organizations that have made an immense impact to improve lives and uplift those struggling on the margins of society. It is our pleasure to announce that the 2025 Building Bridges Honorees are Arthur Jemison, Executive Director of the Detroit Housing Commission, and Lear Corporation, a global automotive supplier with a long history of community engagement and investment. This award was established to honor people and organizations who share PFC’s values of serving and empowering others, especially the poor and marginalized.

Arthur Jemison

Executive Director, Detroit Housing Commission

About Arthur Jemison

James Arthur Jemison, who goes by Arthur, was a leading Detroit housing official who returned to the city last year as executive director of the Detroit Housing Commission.

Jemison, a seasoned 30-year veteran in planning, development and affordable housing, has worked at the city, state and federal levels, often in roles focused on organizational reform. Jemison came to Detroit in 2014 as the founding director of the Housing and Revitalization Department. He later served as group executive overseeing Detroit’s Planning, Housing and Development departments, where his teams preserved and invested in thousands of housing units in the city, completed several strategic neighborhood plans and elevated homelessness work. This includes permitting work on Michigan Central Station, the Stellantis expansion and the new Amazon facilities in the city.

In 2021, Jemison moved to Washington D.C. when the Biden administration named him principal deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He led the Office of Community Planning and Development, stewards of more than $10 billion in Federal Community Development and Disaster Recovery funding (CDBG), HOME and homelessness funds. He was also the president’s Senate nominee to be HUD’s assistant secretary for Public and Indian Housing. Before his move to Detroit last August, he spent two years as chief of planning for the City of Boston and director of the Boston Planning and Development Agency, leading the teams that transformed the quasi-public agency to a city department, completed five neighborhood zoning plans and permitted 40 million square feet of new development.

About Lear Corporation

Lear is a technology leader in automotive Seating and E-Systems. Founded in Detroit in 1917, Lear has more than 170,000 employees and annual revenues of more than $23 billion.

The company has made supporting local communities where it does business a key priority, focusing on economic well-being, education and the environment. Its support includes investing in infrastructure improvements and community-based programs for children and families in Detroit.

In addition, Lear employees globally log more than 33,000 volunteer hours a year on community projects. In Michigan, Lear employees donate nearly $1 million to nonprofits annually through Lear’s Operation GIVE campaign.

Lear was also a major contributor to PFC’s Bridge Housing Campus, a breakthrough facility that opened last year to transition people from chronic homelessness to supported independent living.

Arthur Jemison

Executive Director, Detroit Housing Commission

About Arthur Jemison

About Lear Corporation

Helpful Links

Our Locations

PFC Day Center

PFC Bridge Housing Campus

For Both Locations:

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Building Bridges Gala

2025 Building Bridges Gala

2025 Gala Video Highlights

Overview of Day Center & Bridge Housing Campus

Meet James Ruffin – Bridge Housing Campus Graduate

2025 Gala Honorees

Arthur Jemison

Executive Director, Detroit Housing Commission

About Arthur Jemison

About Lear Corporation

2025 Gala Sponsors

2026 Building Bridges Gala

Helpful Links

Our Locations

PFC Day Center

PFC Bridge Housing Campus

For Both Locations:

Subscribe to Our Newsletter