The Michigan Homeowners Assistance Fund program was created last year to prevent homeowners from losing their homes as a result of mortgage delinquencies the program and was established under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to mitigate hardships associated with the pandemic. Kalamazoo County Treasurer Thomas Whitener tells how it can work for county residents.
Matthew Schmidt bought a former factory in the Edison Neighborhood in October of 2020 and has been working to convert it into a studio for himself, as well as an art gallery and performance space for other artists. Other people's trash is slowing him down. Now the neighborhood wants to hold property owners like Schmidt's neighbor who allow illegal dumping accountable.
Venues are lined up and artists are confirmed for a jazz festival in Kalamazoo's Edison Neighborhood this fall. "We are literally putting it out in the streets and making it accessible to everyone for free," says Edison Executive Director Stephen Dupuie.
Woods Lake Square will be anchored by a new branch of Consumers Credit Union, which owns the 1-acre property at the northwest corner of Oakland and Parkview.
Nicole R. Triplett founded Black Wall Street Kalamazoo in 2018 to build wealth in the Black community by keeping money circulating longer in the Black community.
"We recognize the Kzoo POD Community: A Place of Dignity can't become a reality this winter,” says Michelle Davis, executive director of Housing Resources Inc. She says HRI remains energized and committed to the project.
“I started to talk about what I really wanted to see happen,” says board member Stephen Dupuie, “and then the board members one by one kept tapping me on the shoulder and saying, ‘I think that you should do it. We really like your ideas.’” He's the new Executive Director of the Edison Neighborhood Association.
More activities for young people, ongoing efforts to keep the neighborhood safe, and more volunteer support for programs that benefit neighborhood residents are what the interim president of the Milwood Neighborhood Watch Association has in mind.
The COVID delayed renovations to the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission could be done by the end of February. The number of emergency shelter spaces will grow from 150 to 210. The number of guests the mission will be able to see for long-term case management services will grow from 755 to 1,225. And the new three-story, 47,000-square-foot facility will feature rooms that accommodate family units.
Leaving the family with a legacy of success was something David Smith talked about a lot during the months before he died at age 88. His daughter Doreen Smith has found a sweet way to maintain that legacy. Peanut Brittle.
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