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In the Community
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Local News
- Lighthouse Communities and Urban Pizza
Uptown Incubator, Urban Pizza to open April 1. - Madison Square Business Incubator
Madison Square business incubator has community backing for $1.7m project. - Flips Foreclosed Homes
Lighthouse Communities has several homes throughout Kent County that they are revitalizing. The positive investment and development of these properties will likely stabilize property values of the entire block, bringing vitality and prosperity to our communities. - Bringing in NSP funds to address foreclosures and blight in southeast Grand Rapids
Garfield Park and Madison Square neighborhood will benefit from an $820,000 investment in NSP funds allocated by the State of Michigan. Watch the video online. - Countrywide Settlement Funds allocated to housing agencies
Lighthouse Communities and other local housing agencies will receive funds to continue to stabilize the neighborhoods hardest hit by foreclosures in Grand Rapids. - Fighting foreclosures with Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds
Read about the effects of foreclosure in our communities and how Lighthouse will help tackle this issue through the NSP program by making improvements to foreclosed properties and returning them to homeownership. - Madison Square business district
Madison Square business district another step closer to becoming Grand Rapids' second CID
Thank you all for your faith and partnership... We could not do it without you.
- David Allen
Neighborhood Stabilization Program
Posted: 04-13-2010
Communities all across the nation have been suffering greatly because of a dramatic wave of foreclosures and home abandonment that has hit the country over the last year. In a matter of months, thousands of families lost their homes right here in Kent County. This crisis has called for specific actions to break the cycle of foreclosures and to assist the overwhelming number of families that are faced with the possibility of losing their homes. We have witnessed despair among several families and individuals that have come to Lighthouse seeking assistance.
A government response to this crisis has been injecting stimulus dollars into the housing market. The main goal is to stabilize the communities hardest hit by foreclosure and prevent our neighborhoods from further decline, so it is not all gloom. Through the NSP (Neighborhood Stabilization Program), a program developed by US Department of Housing & Urban Development, Lighthouse has joined the City of Grand Rapids, Kent County and MSHDA in neighborhood stabilizing efforts, including purchasing and redeveloping of foreclosed and abandoned homes, and residential and commercial properties. What is exciting about this work is to be able to continue to create housing opportunities with support from the federal government while keeping a neighborhood focus. Lighthouse remains committed to serving Southtown, and will continue to work collaboratively with a host of local community partners in southeast Grand Rapids to revitalize this area.
Through the NSP, Lighthouse anticipates returning 30 homes to homeownership as well as bringing a $1.6 million dollar Development Center to be located in Madison Square (located at the corner of Madison and Hall), and creating over 40 jobs over the next year. Lighthouse has mainly focused its efforts within Grand Rapids and specifically Southtown. The NSP is a countywide effort and Lighthouse's focus area has now widened to aid in the revitalization of areas of Grandville, Wyoming, Gaines Twp, Lowell and Kentwood. With the hopes of utilizing resources of NSP to offset the negative impacts of foreclosure we will purchase homes county-wide to resell, rent or lease/purchase to community members living at or below 120% area median income (AMI). [For instance, $74,000 equals 120% (AMI) for a family of four]. This effort provides a home to an individual or family that would not otherwise afford it, while also creating a chance to bring revitalization to neighborhoods and communities that would struggle without such investments. The positive investment and development of these properties will likely stabilize property values of the entire block, bringing vitality and prosperity to our communities.
Visit our Housing Services Department to view the maps of the NSP targeted areas in Kent County.
More Housing Services News
Making Homeownership Dreams a Reality!