DETROIT – The sun was shining, the table was set and here came the wasps trying to spoil it all. "I feel so bad," Kesha Rand said apologetically to her guests as they swatted the air with their hands.

For more than a decade, Juan Alfaro, 45, has helped Detroit residents bring homes back to life. At the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation (DHDC), Alfaro, the housing coordinator, guides families ...