Neighborhood Inc. helps the unhoused find shelter in Battle Creek and St. Joseph counties

A pickup truck and a structure in Marshall that was little more than a roof and four walls were the “homes” that Briette Ramos her husband and three children lived in from August to December.

“It was absolutely horrible,” Briette Ramos says.

The family ate a lot of sandwiches and fast food. They showered at a Life Improvement Center owned by Oaklawn Hospital where Ramos had taken out a membership for that very purpose. Two of her three kids attended school every day and her husband went to his job at J and L Manufacturing while Ramos cared for a son with special needs who is non-verbal.

That child now has his own bedroom where he can be as loud as he needs to be and his parents and siblings have spaces to call their own in a three-bedroom home in Marshall that they moved into in January. They are renting from a landlord with a working relationship with Neighborhoods Inc. of Battle Creek, the community development organization that worked with them to find safe, affordable, stable housing.

They are among about 100 individuals and families in Calhoun County and St. Joseph County that seek assistance from NIBC each month to move from being unhoused into stable housing situations. NIBC is home to a Housing Assessment and Resource Agency (HARA), which enables NIBC to provide services to house the unhoused in Calhoun and St. Joseph counties.

“One of the biggest needs we’re noticing is in our Homeless Prevention category where people are behind in their rent and needing assistance to get caught up,” says Whitney Wardell, President and CEO of NIBC.

John GrapBriette and Greg Ramos are seen with River, their oldest son, inside their home in Marshall.“When you think about the affordability of what’s available, people can’t afford to live in these places because the rent’s so high for them,” she says.  This is where housing subsidy programs come into play.

“When the Battle Creek Housing Commission opens its waiting list for housing vouchers, people are hoping to apply and be selected to receive a voucher.”

Ramos says NIBC provided enough funds to cover three months of her family's rent, buying them time to get caught up with their outstanding bills. Something she says, she and her family are very thankful for.

The family learned of NIBC through Ramos’ niece who works for the Woman's Co-op in Battle Creek.

In October, she contacted NIBC and was connected with Lacey Kequom, HARA (Housing Assessment and Resource Agency) Case Manager with NIBC.

Finding a place for the family to live proved to be a challenge. Apartment living was not something they were willing to do because of the experience that led to their becoming unhoused.

John GrapSkyler Ramos pauses while playing a video game at his family’s home in Marshall.“We were kicked out of an apartment we had been renting since February 2024, because a neighbor was complaining about our son’s noise level,” Ramos says of her child with special needs. “We had 26 days to move out or they would start the eviction process. On August 4 we got a letter stating that we had to be out by August 31.” 

The family’s anxiety about becoming apartment renters again meant that was not an experience they knew they didn’t want to repeat. But, finding a house to rent proved challenging.

“We put a lot of money into application fees and got turned down a lot because landlords wanted to make sure we had a good level of income and good credit. We didn’t meet either of those requirements,” Ramos says.

Although her husband had a steady job, she had to transition from her full-time job as a Medical Assistant with Oaklawn Hospital to part-time because of the care she needed to provide for her son and a second son diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis. Unable to work the hours required by Oaklawn, she was let go during COVID but has since gone back to work there as a Medical Assistant.

“One income to support a family of five and paying rent on top of that, you just get behind,” she says. it becomes a seemingly endless game of catch-up where if people are able to make that month’s rent there is little if anything to spare.

“We found a landlord who happened to have a house available. His jaw just dropped when we told him what had happened to us,” she says. “He had worked with NIBC and was willing to work with them again. He got in contact with Lacey and on January 3 she did the inspection and approved us. I cried that night when I learned that we were going to be able to have our own home.”

John GrapSeen in their family’s home in Marshall are, from left, Greg Ramos with daughter Serenity, and Briette Ramos, with son Skyler.About 40 percent of NIBC’s clients' are families and the remainder are individuals, Wardell says. One of those individuals is Quinton Bozell. NIBC "pretty much paid my deposits and first month's rent. I never would have been able to pay that because I was still trying to make my daily living expenses. I don’t know what I would have done otherwise,” Bozell says.

He has a one-year lease on an apartment. “I’m managing the best way I can,” Bozell says.

To qualify for this type of financial assistance from NIBC, individuals and families must be unhoused and meet the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Category One definition of what is considered being homeless. 

“When you think about identifying homelessness under Category One, someone literally has to be a homeless person or family living in a place not meant for human habitation, or in a shelter, hotel, or motel they don’t pay for. It also includes institutional settings that could be a hospital. Or they could be exiting prison or jail, or the Veterans Administration Medical Center,”  Wardell says. “Very often, we’ll find families living outdoors. If they’re meeting Category One through living in shelters or living with family members or friends or in a single-family home occupied by multiple families this qualifies them for assistance under the McKinney Vento Act.”

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, HUD's McKinney-Vento programs provide outreach, shelter, transitional housing, supportive services, short — and medium-term rent subsidies, and permanent housing for people experiencing homelessness and, in some cases, for people at risk of homelessness.

John GrapFormerly living in the shelter at the Haven Quinton Bozell was able to get financial assistance from Neighborhoods, Inc. to help secure an apartment.A family emergency brought Bozell back to Battle Creek from Denver in September. He didn’t have a job after the move and used his last paycheck to cover the cost of living for three months in a hotel while looking for an apartment. Like the Taylor family, he did not have money for the deposit or the upfront rental costs.

“I slept in my car for the next two months and then finally got a job and then I got another job and was working two jobs,” Bozell says. “I’d get off work and didn’t even feel like driving so I just slept in my car. It was rough. I can’t cook food so I have to depend on these restaurants and most close at 10 and I wasn’t getting out of work until 11. I just basically went to whatever was open. It forced me to buy restaurant food I couldn’t afford at the end of the day.”

During this time, top of mind for Bozell wasn’t just feeding himself or how he was going to save enough money for the first three months' rent and a security deposit but also his three school-age daughters in Battle Creek, who would stay with him on weekends.

“I didn’t want my three girls to know why I Was going to hotel rooms on the weekends and I’d tell them I was in transition while looking for a house,” he says. “If it wasn’t for NIBC I don’t know how I would have been able to pay the first month and a security deposit.”

A maze of resources simplified

Each of Michigan’s 83 counties has a Housing Assessment and Resource Agency which “provides centralized intake and housing assessment, thereby assuring a comprehensive communitywide service and housing delivery system. HARAs practice shelter diversion and work to rapidly re-house people who are homeless. Each HARA employs a staff member to function as a Housing Resource Specialist. The Specialist not only works to ensure rapid re-housing but also develops a culture that teaches and makes decisions based upon outcomes,” according to information on the HARA website.

John GrapQuinton Bozell sits on a sofa in his apartment at the Arbors of Battle Creek.Wardell says NIBC’s HARA in St. Joseph includes the villages of Constantine and White Pigeon. The county’s HARA operations came under NIBC after conversations between Wardell and representatives with the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) who expressed concerns. Wardell declined to discuss those concerns publicly.

About 70 percent of NIBC’s client base in Calhoun County comes from the City of Battle Creek with the next higher percentage representing the City of Albion. The challenge for NIBC staff in both Calhoun and St. Joseph counties is determining how individuals and families are experiencing homelessness. Both counties are considered rural and a lack of organized shelters in each makes it difficult to get accurate counts.

“If you’re located within the city of Battle Creek , there’s a bunch of different resources we can use to determine homelessness, like who’s going to the SHARE Center, Haven of Rest Ministries, or the Haven’s Inasmuch House,” Wardell says. “With clientele in more rural areas of the county, it’s a little harder for us to determine (homelessness) because they may meet HUD’s Category One, but if they have a friend that offers them a couch to sleep on, that person is technically not experiencing homelessness.”

Wardell says conversations are taking place about the need to include someone who is couch surfing as homeless, but she has yet to see federal guidelines changed to reflect this.

When thinking about Category One in St. Joseph County, she says she’s not sure if it’s better or worse.

“St. Joe is a much more rural area. They don’t have the drop-in centers and shelters we have in Battle Creek. We partner with Keystone Place Center in Centerville,” Wardell says. “The homeless in St. Joe County are harder to locate so that impacts our numbers on what we can report back. It’s hard for us not to be able to count them because we know they need our services.”

John GrapQuinton Bozell reflects on his life while sitting on a sofa in his apartment.She says a larger issue for NIBC in St. Joe is locating affordable housing for their clients.

As NIBC works to address this need in St. Joseph County, it is also part of the conversations focused on affordable housing needs in Battle Creek and Calhoun County that include stakeholders like the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Miller Foundation, and Washington Heights United Methodist Church (WMUC). NIBC also meets regularly with MSHDA (Michigan State Housing Development Authority) and the city of Battle Creek.

Wardell says her organization’s work to provide safe, affordable, quality housing includes a Property Management division with more than 50 rental properties that include single-family homes, quads, and duplexes kept at affordable rates. Currently, NIBC manages about 40 mortgages. This summer the organization hopes to launch a Path to Purchase program, designed as a rent-to-own opportunity that will include financial literacy and homebuyer education for those who meet the requirements to participate.

NIBC’s Property Management division doesn’t extend into St. Joseph County, but the organization does oversee an Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) program there. 

“The homes people are living in or attempting to move into are not meeting rent reasonableness which means the rent doesn’t appear to be affordable for that house,” Wardell says. “If I’m experiencing homelessness and sleeping outside getting any place indoors is better than sleeping outdoors. There are some really great landlords and some that need some work.”

ESG is a program that falls under the Housing Assessment and Resource Agency and its overarching goal is homelessness prevention and eviction diversion.

John GrapQuinton Bozell holds one of the many motivational posters he has.“When I think about income limits for our community right now with ESG, we find a lot of people being over the income level for tenant-based rental assistance which has to be 60 percent of the area’s median income,” Wardell says.

The median income in 2023 for Calhoun County was $34,581 and the median income for that same year in St. Joseph County was $34,397, according to Data Commons.

“We have individuals who fall anywhere from a maximum of anywhere between 30 to 80 percent of area median income. We have a good number of clientele who fall within ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed),” Wardell says. “The individuals we serve are low to moderate income and fall within 0 to 30 percent of median income.” 

In addition, through HARA, NIBC also offers a shelter diversion pilot program through MSHDA that offers different services like flexible financial assistance and a pool of funds to assist with rental assistance. The city of Battle Creek has a pool of funds for Tenant Based Rental Assistance (TBRA). These funds are used for those experiencing homelessness or those facing a financial hardship.

Although NIBC doesn’t handle landlord-tenant disputes, they have a staff person, Sanita Virgil, who attends a significant number of court hearings in Calhoun County and serves as an advocate for tenants and lets tenants know what resources are available, Wardell says.

“She can also assist in looking for new housing. That bounces back to our relationship with a landlord to see what they have available.”

With an annual budget of $2.8 million, Wardell says NIBC is providing resources and assistance to about 100 people each month. She says HARA represents one division of what they do with other services such as property services management and a housing services portfolio.

There is an increased focus on affordability.

“Some of the biggest challenges we have are identifying additional funding to serve those in our community who are currently in housing and may own a home but aren’t able to maintain that home because they can’t afford a new roof or new windows,” Wardell says. “Having those additional funds to help these families maintain their housing is critical.”

Given the current “slash and burn” mentality of the current Administration, Wardell worries about the availability of federal resources going forward.

“The concern I have is that the resources that they currently provide will go away,” she says. “We may not receive a ton of (federal) money but all of it is necessary and needed. We look at our nation and we think we have problems now. With those experiencing homelessness, it’s going to be a much bigger issue.”

This story is part of Southwest Michigan Journalism Collaborative’s coverage of equitable community development. SWMJC is a group of 12 regional organizations dedicated to strengthening local journalism. Visit swmichjournalism.com to learn more.
John GrapQuinton Bozell has several motivational posters on the walls of his apartment.