affordable housing: Building Dignity

“Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'"  Matthew 22:36-39 (NLT)


First UMC is excited to act out of our love for God and for our neighbors by partnering with our neighboring church, Hope Church RCA, and non-profit developer Dwelling Place of Grand Rapids, to propose a development of 46 units of affordable housing between two buildings on either side of 10th Street in Holland. The land will be provided by the two churches and the building and management of the development will be coordinated by Dwelling Place.


To see a news video about this proposal, click here. Click the picture to learn more.

To learn more about affordable housing in general, see the info below the picture. 

links for terminology and more information

Ottawa Housing Next, under the leadership of Ryan Kilpatrick, provides a great list of definitions about housing, as well as an area needs assessment indicating the level of housing needs for our area at all price points.


Many affordable housing initiatives rely on assistance from government programs in order to ensure that the developments can be sustainable while charging rents that people can afford on lower incomes. One of the avenues of doing this is through Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). Here is a great video that explains how these credits work. 


One local non-profit developer using the LIHTC process is Dwelling Place of Grand Rapids. Their motto is "Everyone deserves a dwelling place." This developer operates the affordable senior development, Midtown Village, in Holland. Dwelling Place recently celebrated 40 years of affordable housing ventures. First UMC is proud to be partnering with this developer on a proposed 46-unit affordable development.


The United Way's most recent ALICE report gives information on Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed individuals in our area and state. For an interactive way to understand the challenges of making ends meet on a lower income, check out this tool: Making Ends Meet Challenge.