83-year-old Motown musican who lost home gets happy ending
New keys, a new roof, and new hope for a Detroit couple we've been following for a nearly a year.
After a hard-fought battle they lost the home they'd been living in for decades - but now they're getting a new place to call home.
"We decided as Detroit Rescue Mission to give you a home," said Chad Audi.
"I'm very fortunate," says Kenny Brinkley, a Motown recording artist. "Me and my wife appreciate it very much."
They would love to stay in the home they knew for decades but thanks to a generous donation - they were able to get a new home in a different part of Detroit.
A happy ending for 83-year-old Kenny Brinkley, a Motown saxophonist. But for the past year he and his wife Sandi were given every reason to play the blues.
"It's the difference between living on the street and living in a home," said Sandi.
For decades the house on Taylor Street in Detroit was Brinkley's home. For the past five years he says they were paying $300 a month to the Detroit Property Exchange.
"It turned out they weren't (helping) they were just going for the money," said Brinkley.
FOX 2 first told you their story last February after this couple received eviction notices. Since then a lot has happened.
The Detroit Eviction Defense team got involved and kept a roof over their head.
"They kept us in it for a year at the end of this month," said Sandi.
But they weren't able to keep the house permanently. The house was sold at auction and the new owners started taking control. They cut down trees that Brinkley planted in front of the house 40 years prior.
"The day they cut it down I had a heart attack," said Sandi.
That was when the Detroit Rescue Mission comes in. They saw the story and weren't about to let these two go homeless.
"Everything you need will be there," Audi said, as he presented keys to a new house to Brinkley.
It is a chance to leave the blues of 2015 behind for good. They are expected to move to a new home on Littlefield in about two weeks.