A Way Home — Housing Solutions: This story is part of Southwest Michigan Second Wave's series on solutions to homelessness and ways to increase affordable housing. It is made possible by a coalition of funders including the City of Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County, the ENNA Foundation, Kalamazoo County Land Bank, and LISC.

Editor's Note: Some changes have been made to the original article. While the numbers were directly quoted from the housing talk, corrections were requested to reflect accuracy.

KALAMAZOO, MI — These are uncertain times when it comes to funding for housing, to put it mildly.

County housing projects rely on funding from the "Homes for All" housing millage, from philanthropic sources, from state dollars, from the federal government, and from a variety of other sources, Kalamazoo County Housing Director Mary Balkema points out.  

They work in federal PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) arrangements. They get community-donated furniture for the new manufactured homes at Sugarloaf. 

But one source behind the efforts to improve housing stock and get people into shelters suddenly seems to be at risk — the federal government.

March 27, Balkema gave a presentation to Citizens Rising, a Kalamazoo grassroots organization "whose purpose is to move our governmental bodies at the local, state, and national levels (to) revive, resolve, and restore critical issues for our nation," according to their Facebook page. It was a small audience of around 20 at the People’s Church, but they all had pressing questions revolving around homelessness and solutions to increase housing stock.

Balkema highlighted a long list of housing projects, with data backed by the W.E. Upjohn Institute study of Kalamazoo housing. 

Through her presentation, and in frank response to questions from the audience, she addressed the complicated politics and attitudes aimed at efforts to provide affordable housing: local NIMBYism, misconceptions of who the housing is for, and that elephant lumbering about in the room — where does the local housing effort stand in a time of DOGE?

"Build, baby, build!" versus uncertainty

She began her talk with "some good news: the economy is strong." Unemployment is down, and privately owned housing starts showed strength in February, she says.

"But consumer confidence is not strong. When that declines, folks don't spend money. Consumer expectations for the future fell to a 12-year low in March, well below the threshold of 80. That usually signals a recession ahead. Not good news."

Consumer confidence and the stock market have dropped, Balkema continues. Fed Chair Jerome Powell, in December, "in his formal remarks, used the term 'uncertainty' once. In March 2025, he used the term 'uncertainty' six times. I think we're living in uncertain times, and the populace can feel that," Balkema says.

She highlighted many County affordable housing projects breaking ground, in the works or completed. Some we know about, like the Mt. Zion senior housing project, which just broke ground, or the manufactured homes at Sugarloaf. 

One development, that Second Wave has not yet reported on, will go in at the Old Peninsula building at Portage and East Michigan, downtown Kalamazoo. "The state just allocated $1.1 million to that," Balkema says. Saugatuck Brewing occupied the building but closed after a fire last August and announced they'd be permanently closed in early March. 

Mark WedelMary Balkema, Kalamazoo County Housing Director, says "What's the solution to shortage? I guess it's build, baby, build, right?"Projects start and are completed, yet at a pace that is struggling to keep up with growing demand. 

The Upjohn Institute study from 2022 originally showed the need for 7,740 new units but then upped the number to 8,000 units because "Marshall is not building housing to meet the demand" coming for the BlueOval Battery plant workers. 

Voters approved the "Homes for All" millage in November 2020, and the funding it provides for housing projects runs through December 2028. The millage effort has created 1,482 units so far, and 877 units are under construction or breaking ground this year, Balkema says. "We've filled 615 units since 2021. And we need to keep it moving." 

The County is far from halfway to the goal of eliminating the housing shortage. But they're determined to keep moving forward, Balkema says.

"What's the solution to shortage? I guess it's build, baby, build, right?"
 
To build, the county has to "leverage." 

"We leverage all federal, state, and local tools, tax increment financing, the PILOT... The federal government gives an allocation to states of low-income housing tax credits. They're very, very competitive."

Then there's the deep pockets of local philanthropy. "The Stryker Johnston Foundation puts out $50 million into the community every single year. We look at the Foundation for Excellence. I happen to be treasurer for that board," Balkema says.

"And then we also have the $9 million housing millage. And $9 million seems like a lot of money, but just 530 South Rose alone is $19 million," she says of the new 64-unit senior housing development.  

Legacy Senior Living, the 70-unit building in the Northside neighborhood, which just had its groundbreaking March 26, is a $27 million project, she points out.

The housing millage can't be the sole funder of such projects. "We fill the gap to leverage up federal, state, philanthropy, everyone else's money, and then we come in for the difference," Balkema says.
Al JonesAmong those turning the first shovels of dirt at Mt. Zion Baptist Church's Legacy Senior Living project  are Rev. Christopher Moore, First Lady Gwendolyn Moore, Pastor Addis Moore and Edison Community Partners Senior Development Jason Muniz.
The DOGE effect

There's a wildcard in the mix of funding, and that's the Trump administration's cuts to federal departments and agencies through DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency.

HUD cuts are suddenly withdrawing expected funding commitments, halting projects like an asbestos abatement at a 202-unit building for seniors in Ashtabula, Ohio.

A couple of days after Balkema's talk, the news broke that DOGE "targeted for termination" an $18.9 million grant for Kalamazoo County's Holistic Healthy Homes project, which would have improved the energy efficiency of aging Kalamazoo homes and established workforce development to increase green industry jobs for Kalamazoo workers.

Through Balkema, Second Wave received the County's official statement on the EPA Grant on April 1. The County clarified that Holistic Healthy Homes was not under the County Housing Department, nor was the County Housing Department to receive any of the EPA funds.

The County has not yet received an official grant termination letter from the EPA, but other communities have "received similar notifications," the release states.

"If we were to receive a formal termination notice, it would be deeply disappointing – not only for Kalamazoo County Government, but also for our residents and, most importantly, the skilled laborers this decision would directly affect."

The release points out that the funding was expected, and the program was underway to be implemented. "The County and its partners have already invested significant time and resources in preparing to implement this 3-year grant. If the funding is terminated, it won’t just delay progress – it will waste months of planning, mobilization, and community engagement."

At the Citizens Rising talk, Balkema acknowledged that the Trump Administration has created a tumultuous environment.

"It's really chaotic, and government doesn't operate well with chaos. We're too big. We're like a big cruise ship, and we just don't turn on a dime. And so that's why I pointed out the word 'uncertainty,'" she says.

"We have over a $300 million budget; $80 million of that comes through federal sources," she says.

Federal dollars get to Kalamazoo County housing projects in various ways. Some of those dollars seem to be safe.

For example, Stanwood Crossing, the building of 45 single-family homes in the Austin Lake area, is counting on a federal earmark of $1 million toward infrastructure. 

Second Wave reached out to Portage City Manager Pat McGinnis to clarify if it was at risk. Pete Dame, Chief Development officer for the City, replied that they received Senators Peters and Stabenaw's appropriation, and "has a signed agreement for this project in good standing with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It is not a HUD program grant."

Balkema did not point out any direct grants from federal agencies, such as from HUD or the EPA, the type of which seem to be at risk for review and recall by DOGE.

Eric HennigMary Balkema and Willa DiTaranto are enthusiastic about housing going in at Sugarloaf mobile home park.
"Low-income housing tax credits, we absolutely rely on," for many County projects, she says, "and that's really been the mechanism for affordable housing for a long time." 

But the County's housing projects do get HUD money. "Where we do get federal funding that's very important is those HUD dollars that come through the Continuum of Care."

"This week, allegedly, the HUD office in Detroit was closed," Balkema says. (At the start of April, the link to HUD's Michigan office in Detroit, hud.gov/michigan, leads to a "file not found" page, then redirects to the main HUD Washington site.) 

If there's no Michigan HUD office, "What does that look like for the money that comes through the Continuum that really deals with homelessness? I don't know the answer to that."

Federal money has gone to the Michigan State Housing Authority, "they allocate the Community Development Block Grant and the HOME dollars. Those are HUD programs that have been around for a long time."

Sudden withdrawal of funding for many agencies, including those involved in more than just housing, puts a strain on the entire funding sphere, public to philanthropic.

"This week, I think, he's (Trump's) cutting the Health and Human Service dollars. So what does that look like when you have a measles outbreak, for instance? Or what does that look like when you have PFAS and you have water contaminants, and our health department tests that?" she says.

"So we have a list to triage... What does it look like when things are cut? And it's not just the county; it's the city; it's all of our partners, right? And then there's not enough funding in America to backfill everything that's being cut right now, obviously."

Balkema asks, "What rises to the top, and what is going to be cut forever? Or until something changes —  forever is probably not the right term."

The way the current cuts are implemented is also causing chaos, she points out. "The administration doesn't say, 'Guess what? Your EPA grant, funded grant, is cut.' No, they turn off the portal, so when you go in for reimbursement, that's how you know," she says.

"You know how much uncertainty that causes? And we do not operate well like that! We put out $300 million in this community, right? And so when we have to turn on a dime, we choke, and we choke fast."

Then, all grant-funded resources in a community are at risk. "When we triage, is the immunization clinic more important than (public radio station) WMUK? Or is it more important than the refugees? We are going to have to triage fast because what philanthropy has to backfill, a whole lot of people need to agree with that, right?"

The good news... and the difficult NIMBY politics

"Yeah, and so we really are living in uncertain times. But the good news is, the housing millage is not affected by any of that," Balkema says.

"Maybe this is wishful thinking, I think even if federal money didn't come here, we can still have a housing program and project." Balkema lists philanthropy funding, "TIFS" (tax increment financing) or the MSHDA Housing Tax Increment Financing Program, and payment-in-lieu-of-taxes as ways of keeping progress in Kalamazoo housing funded.

Progress that's "maybe not to the scale that I like, and maybe we won't get to the 8,000 as fast as I would like, but we will still be committed to it, and I still think it will work." 

There has been opposition to affordable housing, she points out. Her department wants to build throughout the county, but Texas Township, Richland, and other communities have simply told her "no."

At Texas Township, "We went to the governing board, and guess what they said?... 'Market rate does fine out here. We don't really want those people living out here.' That's pretty much just what they said. 'And the answer is no,'" Balkema says.

Other communities are welcoming affordable housing efforts, yet she gets phone calls like, 'That HUD housing is going to wreck Comstock!'" she says. "First of all, it's not HUD housing...."
 
The county did a focus group of people living around Austin Lake on the Stanwood project. "Austin Lake homes are, what, $8-$9 hundred thousand? And those people said, 'We do not want those people living next to us.'" 

Balkema reminds the group that those homes are meant for people who make $100,000 a year. "I don't know who you think we're talking about!" she exclaims. "Those are people you work with. Those are your school teachers, your firefighters."

Some county housing projects are aimed at the "workforce," people earning the Area Median Income. Others are for people at risk of being homeless: she lists Sugarloaf, the shelter planned for the former hotel at 1912, E. Kilgore, housing in Edison for people in recovery, and a project with the YWCA to open 19 units for survivors of human trafficking. 

To get past NIMBY politics, there's a need to "change people's hearts." Balkema points out a woman with children whose husband was killed by gun violence. She and her children are living in one of the Sugarloaf manufactured homes. She has the income to "afford $800 a month of stable housing."

The woman's other option would likely be homelessness for her and her children. 

Kalamazoo's unhoused population is growing, Balkema tells the audience. She points out "all the cars in the parking lot at the (Gospel) Mission" are owned by the people the Mission serves. "They have cars, they have jobs. They do not have housing," she says.

"I thought this was interesting" — Balkema pulls up an Upjohn Institute slide comparing the costs of supportive housing and Housing First programs with the costs of managing chronic homelessness.

Housing First, the approach of first getting unhoused people housing before dealing with their other issues, "saves 30-50% of public spending by reducing hospitalizations, incarceration and emergency services," she says.

"It is cheaper, actually, to house someone than to be in this vicious cycle of homelessness and using the emergency room frequently," she says. "We have an affordable housing millage, not a homeless millage, but we're obviously concerned with the whole spectrum."

Asked about NIMBYism and the political shade cast over these programs and solutions, Balkema mentions that she gave a presentation on housing at Michigan State's Michigan Political Leadership Program the weekend before.

She asked that audience what they thought her "political persuasion was. You'll like this – they said 'center-left.'"

Laughing, Balkema says, "I really am a Republican!"  

She concludes, "But you know what, maybe if we talk about something in a reasonable way, we can change people's hearts and minds."