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Join the initiative! We want you to become part of this housing for all campaign. Please contact us at info@allianceforeconomicsuccess.com to join one of the committees listed below:

Communication-understand and communicate where the critical need is in order to strategically target resources and achieve public consensus.

Planning & Policy-coordinate and create planning & zoning tools to encourage greater housing choices and position communities to be in a state of readiness.

Funding & Incentives-Encourage private, public, and non-profits to utilize incentives and find alternative funding sources.

Resources-work to coordinate and educate about existing programming: to help people of all income levels stay in their homes and to keep properties well kept and habitable.

Recap of work to date:

• In 2014 a Manistee County Area Housing Needs and Opportunities Discussion resulted in the convening of 25 attendees who work, in some capacity, on housing needs.  This meeting identified a need for a Manistee County housing strategy.
• A Manistee Housing Strategy Proposal was developed to address the “housing” issue but funding of the $45,000 project could not be secured.
• Networks Northwest conducted two in depth studies: a Target Market Analysis (2014), which provided data and estimated a conservative and aggressive market potential scenario for building new housing, and a Housing Inventory (2014), which gave an overview of the County’s housing stock and its specific challenges.
• Workshops have been conducted such as the “Housing for All in Manistee” 2016 workshop to learn about various strategies to encourage new housing while also prioritizing housing goals and actions.
• Networks Northwest is in its third year hosting a regional housing summit that is well attended by Manistee County leaders and professionals that continues to define the issues and offer solutions.
• Most recently, the United Way published their ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) report, which provides data on households that earn more than the Federal Poverty Level, but less than the basic cost of living for the County.
• And continuous focus on homelessness is the mission of the Human Services Collaborative Body Continuum of Care and other organizations.
• A Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness developed by the HSCB CoC
• There have been two efforts to provide new housing options for the workforce and seniors in the City of Manistee – both were denied at some point in the approval process