All it takes sometimes is for caring organizations to work together for the betterment of their community. This time their joint effort is aimed at helping the “missing middle” find homes.
10 new modular homes are coming to 60 E 40th St in Holland, Michigan with this partnership between Jubilee Ministries and Lakeshore Habitat for Humanity.
Steve Grose, the executive director of Jubilee, said his staff works hard to keep the homes affordable while still meeting buyers’ needs and giving each house a unique look.
“We want them to spend 30% or less of their income on housing, and so there’s a subsidy in order for them to afford the housing that we do, but we think it works out really well creating a mixed-income neighborhood and we’re really happy with how this turned out,” Grose said.
The Jubilee homes are modular. They were mostly built in Pennsylvania and shipped to Holland in sections before being assembled. The process helps Jubilee more quickly meet the need for housing.
“It allows for a lot of the work to be done without having weather interfere … and when it’s brought in, all of the work can be completed once it’s here, so it just increases the efficiency,” Katherine Blocker, director of development and operations, said.
Many homebuilders keep busy with bigger luxury homes, which can be more profitable than what middle-class families can afford. The need for homes to serve the missing middle is not expected to go away anytime soon.
“We’re not seeing it alleviate at all. We’re seeing our companies continue to grow, and so we really feel that Jubilee will play an important part of building housing for those folks that are coming to our community to work,” Blocker said.
Gary Fleisher, Contributing Editor
