Housing Resources
Here is a list of housing resources and related news that you can utilize and explore. If you would like to add anything to this list, please fill out the form below.
Important Documents
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Grand Rapids Area Coalition to End Homelessness - Coordinated Entry Evaluation Report
The Grand Rapids/Wyoming/Kent Counties Continuum of Care (CoC) encompasses a region of Michigan where over 900 men, women, and children experience homelessness on any given night. The Grand Rapids Area Coalition to End Homelessness, another name for the CoC, recently embarked on a project with technical assistance from The Cloudburst Group (Cloudburst). The purpose of the project was to evaluate the CoC’s Coordinated Entry System (CES) to further strengthen the homelessness response system and ultimately end homelessness
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Vision to End Homelessness
In recent decades, national and local efforts to address homelessness have placed substantial emphasis on emergency response to homelessness. This Vision to End Homelessness challenges our community to take a fresh look at our current system of emergency services for people who are homeless and to purposefully move to a system focused on the provision of safe, affordable permanent housing. In essence, this is a movement from managing homelessness to ending homelessness. The body of this Vision document presents this new perspective and captures our vision for the future. The appendices include detailed information regarding the Vision planning process, data used to support the Vision, and a glossary of terms.
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Assessment of Grand Rapids and Kent County Vision to End Homelessness
In 2004, the then-named Grand Rapids/Kent County Housing Continuum of Care (HCOC) -- now the Coalition to End Homelessness (Coalition) -- initiated a broad-based community planning effort aimed at transforming the community’s response to the crisis of homelessness. As the Vision passed its ten-year milestone, a group of Grand Rapids Area philanthropies commissioned The Cloudburst Group to assess the community’s progress in fulfilling the goals of the Vision.
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Integrated Data & Community Partnerships: Driving Change to Prevent Homelessness and Housing instability
Information on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg data collaborative.
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Grand Rapids / Kent County, Michigan Housing Needs Assessment
Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce retained Bowen National Research in October of 2019 for the purpose of conducting a Housing Needs Assessment of Grand Rapids and Kent Count, Michigan. With changing demographic and employment characteristics and trends expected over the years ahead, it is important for the local government, stakeholders and its citizens to understand the current market conditions and projected changes that are expected to occur that will influence future housing needs.
Local News Articles
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MLive (June 20, 2019) - What’s behind the homeless student ‘crisis’ in Grand Rapids area?
An increasing number of school-aged students are being officially recorded as being homeless in Kent County. Nearly 600 additional Kent County students were counted as homeless in the 2017-18 school year, the most recent numbers released by the Michigan Center for Performance and Information on K-12 students.
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MLive (October 24, 2019) - $9.3M affordable housing project on Grand Rapids’ Southeast Side opens
Residents are expected Friday to begin moving into Garfield Park Lofts, a 36-unit affordable housing development that officials say represents the first new commercial construction in the Southeast Side neighborhood in nearly three decades.
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WZZM 13 (November 24, 2019) - Overcoming homelessness: West Michigan women share their stories
Nearly 8,500 people in Kent County experienced homelessness in 2018, according to the Coalition to End Homelessness.
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School News Network (December 3, 2019) - Living in cars, campers, motels and ‘doubled-up,’ homeless students struggle to succeed
When students in Kent County schools are identified as homeless, district coordinators have items ready — school uniforms, backpacks, coats, school supplies, bus passes, even mattresses. What’s become more and more difficult is helping families find adequate shelter.
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School News Network (December 3, 2019) - ‘We didn’t notice they’re gone’
West Side rents doubled or even tripled in recent years, driving out families with children and hurting enrollment in GRPS schools. The increases are driven by new high-rise apartments and condos, the bustling bars and restaurants along Bridge Street NW and a major influx of college student renters, he says.
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MLive (January 16, 2020) - Temporary family homeless shelter in Grand Rapids is closing
A nonprofit serving homeless families in Grand Rapids has closed a shelter it opened in February on a temporary basis. Family Promise of Grand Rapids stopped providing shelter at Fulton Manor, 1450 Fulton St. E, in late December. Nearly 400 families were provided temporary shelter at the facility between February and December.
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MLive (February 28, 2020) - Kent County Land Bank properties transferred to state
The Kent County Land Bank’s 119 remaining properties have been transferred to its state counterpart. State Land Bank Authority officials said Friday, Feb. 28, that they finalized an agreement with Kent County to take on its now-dissolved land bank's properties.
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WoodTV 8 (March 20, 2020) - Homeless struggle ‘even harder’ amid COVID-19 outbreak
If you don’t often think about the plight of those experiencing homelessness in West Michigan, Sara Schade has a message for you. Now is the time to care.
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MLive (April 23, 2020) - More than 50 Grand Rapids homeless test positive for coronavirus, but nearly all isolated voluntarily
COVID-19 is showing up in Grand Rapids’ homeless population in considerable numbers, although health officials have worked hard to contain spread of the infection. So far, 55 people have tested positive for the virus, with most being isolated at a designated isolation center at the Guiding Light facility on Division Avenue.
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MLive (May 12, 2020) - Dozens of homeless families housed in Grand Rapids hotels to prevent spread of coronavirus
About 57 families experiencing homelessness are currently being put up in hotels in the Grand Rapids area to keep them safe from the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19.
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MLive (June 25, 2020) - Two Grand Rapids nonprofits merge to help youth facing homelessness achieve stability
Two local nonprofits recently announced a merger to provide greater support for youth facing homelessness. HQ, a drop-in center for homeless and runaway youth, is joining forces with longtime partner 3:11 Youth Housing to provide circles of support for the vulnerable population.
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MLive (July 27, 2020) - Grand Rapids needs ‘a lot’ of new housing to meet demand, avoid displacing residents
Grand Rapids needs 'a lot' of new housing to meet demand, avoid displacing residents. ... A new study, conducted for the city of Grand Rapids by Housing Next, estimates that the city needs 5,340 additional apartments and 3,548 owner-occupied condos, townhomes or single-family homes by 2025.
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GRBJ (August 13, 2020) - HUD awards $8.1 million to Michigan housing authorities
Public housing authorities in Michigan received $8.1 million in CARES act funding to help families during the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson announced $472 million nationally in CARES Act funding to help low-income families, including $8.1 million to 61 PHAs throughout Michigan.
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MLive (August 26, 2020) - Grand Rapids leaders eye vacant properties to boost low-income housing stock
Grand Rapids leaders are hoping to increase the city’s affordable and low-income housing stock with vacant properties. At their Tuesday night meeting, city commissioners unanimously approved vacant property sale criteria that favors lower-income housing projects on the properties.
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Rapid Growth (August 29, 2020) - City of Grand Rapids funding housing assistance via La Lucha Fund
Last week, the City of Grand Rapids Commission approved providing up to $250,000 for rent and mortgage assistance to Grand Rapids residents meeting Grand Rapids Community Foundation’s La Lucha Fund eligibility requirements. Residents impacted by COVID-19 can apply for funds and receive up to $500 of rent or mortgage assistance for their households.