$1.75M awarded to housing programs
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HANCOCK -- Michigan State Housing Development Authority officials presented local agencies with checks and got their thoughts on what more the state can do at a meeting Tuesday morning.
Western Upper Peninsula Planning Development Region, BHK-Community Action Agency and Copper Country Habitat for Humanity received a combined $1.75 million as part of the Michigan Housing Opportunities Promoting Energy Efficiency Program (MI-HOPE). The program grants up to $25,000 per household to improve energy efficiency through means such as windows, insulation and appliances.
"You guys have a lot more colder weather than many other parts of the state," said MSHDA Executive Director Amy Hovey. "And this energy efficiency program really kind of tightens the house up from an energy standpoint with the improvements that it's making. So we're hoping that not only is it stabilizing the housing, but ultimately bringing down the cost of energy for the homeowner, making it more affordable to live in our colder climates."
WUPPDR received its first MI-HOPE funding in October, and has 10 homes in process, said regional planner Lisa McKenzie. They've completed Keweenaw County, are working on Houghton County, and will soon start Baraga and Iron counties.
The homes must be chosen by the end of 2024. Funding runs through the end of 2026.
"It gives us a little extra time, because they realize our construction season's a little shorter," she said.
The Gogebic Community Action Agency was also on hand to accept funds for Mi-HOPE and two other programs: the MSHDA Investing in Community Housing (MICH) program, the Neighborhood Engagement Program, which provides funds for innovative ideas and communities to help with housing stock and other kinds of placemaking activities.
With rising costs everywhere, MSHDA is trying to ensure more homeowners can get assistance for needed upgrades. The MI-HOPE program, as well as the MSHDA Mod program, which finances modular home builds, are available to people up to 300% of the federal poverty level, Hovey said.
"We know that the housing crisis in our state is impacting more and more families," she said. "The cost of our housing has gone up about 84%, while our incomes have only gone up about 25%. So it's making housing across the state unaffordable for more and more families ... many of our programs now, we're going up to 120% of area median income to just more fully address the housing crisis of the state."
Hovey credited strong community leadership in the region for taking the initiative to apply for and make people aware of the resources available.
"It's dependent on capacity and leadership within those communities to look at what we have available at the state, take the time to apply for them and implement them, which sounds like an easy thing, but it's not," she said.
WUPPDR also received a Trailblazer award from MSHDA for its efforts to reach new applicants.
They assisted applicants in Iron and Baraga counties with no internet, and are continuing to help people with the program. It has the most applicants so far among smaller agencies.
"We had 184 applicants thus far in our system, which will feed the other programs as well, so they're working really hard to get as many of those homes taken care of," said Lisa McKenzie, assistant regional planner with WUPPDR.
MSHDA is implementing 15 regional housing partnerships around the state -- three in the Upper Peninsula -- which Hovey said would help the state get a better grasp of the priorities, needs and values in each region.
"Going forward, when I'm up here giving checks, they won't be for programs we've created at the state level, but they'll be providing checks to help the individual regions implement their regional housing plan, meaning they're going to tell us what they need, and we're going to be responsive to the needs," she said.
After the check presentations, Hovey and MSHDA Special Assistant for Legislative Strategy held a roundtable discussion with agency representatives, as well as homeowner Lillian Ryckman. She was able to use a MI-Hope grant to make improvements to her home.
She's been making improvements bit by bit over the years out of pocket, including upgrading the old oil furnace to natural gas.
Ryckman found out about the grant from MaryEllen Hyttinen of WUPPDR in May, and was able to get energy-efficiency repairs completed this month.
"Having a new roof has been tremendous," she said. "I did have a very weak spot in the roof where the shingles had been compromised to the point where it was leaking, so that was one of my primary concerns. So now I'll be able to move forward with some additional work."