Brianne Pitchford, Secretary Triangle Associates Inc.
Lee Hardy, Past Chair
Calvin University
Devetta Blakely
Cherry Health
Omar Brown
OA Private Capital
David Contant
Build Design Restore (BDR)
Mary DeYoung
Gray Space Collaborative
Janice Dorsey Arkenya Incorporated / SOWN
Alma Obande Grand Rapids Public Schools
Ryan Ogle Blu House Properties
Rick Treur
Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce
CELEBRATING 50 YEARS
We are hosting a few more special events this fall and winter to celebrate ICCF’s 50th anniversary in 2024. Find full details at iccf.org/events and enjoy more stories and anniversary highlights at iccf.org/legacy
SEPT. 26 An Evening with Author Leath Rothstein
OCT. 10 Homeownership
OCT. 24
A MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO
Dear friends,
Recently, we had the joy of celebrating milestone anniversaries for three of our dedicated team members—two of whom have served with us for a decade and one who has been with us for an incredible 25 years! I am continually inspired by my colleagues’ unwavering commitment to serving others with humility, persevering through challenges, and showing love in action for our neighbors.
At ICCF Community Homes, we believe that true Christian Community Development happens when we work with and alongside our neighbors, rather than simply doing things for them. This value was beautifully demonstrated at our recent back-to-school event. Residents like Latoya, whom you’ll meet in this issue, joined forces with local business owners, GRPD, volunteers, and our staff to create a successful and joyful evening. Together, we ensured that kids received essential school supplies and that neighbors built stronger connections.
Neighborhoods thrive when people come together and put their love into action. Thank you for being part of this mission, especially during our 50th anniversary year. Together, we will continue to seek new ways to advance God’s shalom in our West Michigan community.
Grace and peace,
DEC. 3
& Learn
Ryan VerWys President and CEO rverwys@iccf.org
We had a great time celebrating donors, volunteers, and partners at Circle Theatre’s A Raisin in the Sun and a Whitecaps ballgame this summer! Thank you for your continued support of ICCF.
The Impact of You: Summer Volunteers
While many of us were spending time on a relaxing vacation this summer, ICCF Community Homes volunteers were working hard to turn houses into homes. “We had volunteers working at over 25 job sites this summer,” said Volunteer Coordinator Sheryl Baas. “So much work was accomplished, and I am incredibly thankful to our volunteers.” Several teen groups were involved in landscaping at many of our Pleasant Prospect neighborhood homes. They trimmed back overgrown bushes,
Thornapple Middle School
An
Evening
with Just Action
Author Leah Rothstein
Thursday, September 26 at 7PM
Calvin University
Covenant Fine Arts Center 1795 Knollcrest Circle SE Grand Rapids, MI
Tickets are free. Advance registration required.
cleared out weeds and dead foliage, and spruced up the porch railings with a fresh coat of paint.
Teens Actively Serving Christ, CRC Serve, Thornapple Covenant Church, Ada Bible Church, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, and Fifth Reformed Church all had students serving with us this summer. The Rick Mahorn Big Man Basketball Camp and Cornerstone University Volleyball helped to make the playground at Family Haven safe by spreading several yards of mulch, hauling it over in buckets and wheelbarrows in 90 degree heat.
And let’s not forget our adult volunteers! Ada Bible completed their fifth rehab house this summer and are already starting on the next one. The Local Church and First Byron CRC teamed up to finish a full house rehab at one of our Pleasant Prospect homes. In addition, adult volunteer groups and individuals helped to finish another five houses between May and September.
Registration is now open for a free lecture presented by ICCF Community Homes and featuring Leah Rothstein, celebrated author of Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law
Hosted at Calvin University by the Calvin Sociology/Social Work Department, Rothstein’s presentation will describe practical ways that activists and supporters can address historical inequities. Co-authored with Richard Rothstein, Just Action is a follow-up to R. Rothstein’s bestselling book The Color of Law , which provided “the most forceful argument ever iccfrothstein.eventbrite.com
“We have such amazing volunteers,” said Baas. “ICCF could not do what we do without their generous contribution to our work.”
Interested in exploring volunteer opportunities? Visit iccf.org/volunteer to get started.
published on how federal, state, and local governments gave rise to the reinforced neighborhood segregation” (William Julius Wilson). The Color of Law recounted how government at all levels created segregation— Just Action describes how we can begin to undo it.
Cornerstone Volleyball Team
Ada Bible Church
Making Room at the Table
In the two years that Latoya has lived at ICCF’s apartments at 415 MLK Street, she’s become an integral part of its community. If a neighbor needs encouragement, Latoya delivers a home-cooked meal to their door. When ICCF asks for volunteers, she’s the first in line. If someone has a question about transportation, community programs, or ICCF’s resources, Latoya makes the connection. There’s hardly a resident or staff member in the building whom she doesn’t know. “Give me the date and time, and I’m on my way to help,” Latoya likes to say. As someone who has experienced what it’s like to be without a home, she’s now an expert at what it means to create one.
Growing up with ten siblings, Latoya learned early what it meant to care for others. Today she has three children of her own, the youngest still a teenager. As an adult, she experienced homelessness off and on for four years. Wherever she stayed, Latoya would seek out available jobs to earn money and save for a better life. Then she heard about ICCF Community Homes.
“When I was in the shelter, I had an advocate who kept pushing and pushing to get my Section 8 housing voucher. Finally, in May, I got a letter from ICCF to start the intake process. On October 4, I got the keys to my apartment,” she recalled. A family member helped her pay the security deposit, and suddenly Latoya had a place of her own to call home. “I thought, ‘Man, I’m home. I don’t have to worry about anything anymore,’” she said, remembering how it felt to walk into the bare apartment. “I don’t have to find out what to eat or where to cook. I can take a bath every day. I don’t have to walk on my tiptoes. It’s been amazing ever since.”
Starting her new life with very little, Latoya slept on the floor until she was able to acquire furniture. Nowadays she’s usually spending time in the kitchen, where she loves to cook up southern-style recipes learned from her mom and grandmothers, or sitting on her couch by the window. “I love my home,” says Latoya. “It’s a place where I don’t have to worry about anything; a safe place.” On the back of her front door are stickers that read “Patient,” “Gentle,” “Humble,” and “Loving”—the last thing she sees before leaving home.
Latoya is one of about a hundred residents who reside at 415 MLK. In addition to income-qualified apartments, the building contains ICCF’s office and community space, Madison: South Hill Church, and the YMCA Jacquline Baber-Bey Early Childhood Center. Latoya’s secondfloor apartment looks out over the building’s main entrance. Just across the street is the Women’s Resource Center, where Latoya walks twice a
week for her Wayfinder program, a selective education program from Calvin University.
Wayfinder aims to remove barriers to education by providing a tuition-free jumpstart to higher education with childcare included, technology provided, dinner on the night of class provided by a local caterer, and public transportation assistance to class. Courses focus on forefronting the humanities as an entry point to develop critical thinking skills, reflective and creative skills, and to allow students to thrive in a supportive educational environment. When the program concludes, Latoya wants to use her eight transferable credits to continue her education and pursue a new career, saying, “I decided to be a social worker to help people out, just like people helped me out.”
Abbie Lipsker, Director of Continuing Studies at Calvin University, said, “Latoya came highly recommended from ICCF as a member of the community with immense leadership potential, trustworthiness, and resilience. Her instructors say that Latoya is quick to ask for help when she needs it and she’s quick to offer help to classmates. She has deep insights on the readings and she’s often complimenting her fellow classmate’s insights and strengths.” ICCF neighbors were among those
selected for an initial planning focus group organized by Calvin, from which the need and interest for the Wayfinder program was solidified.
Latoya previously worked as a dental assistant before taking a part-time retail position close to home. When she’s not working or doing homework, she’s often volunteering her time as one of ICCF’s Resident Ambassadors. In this role, Latoya helps support the work of 415 MLK’s onsite Community Connector staff person through event promotion and neighbor outreach. ICCF organizes various neighbor events in all its buildings, including meals, Bible studies, and holiday events. Latoya noticed that some people were walking past event flyers in the hallway, so she started
"Blessed to Be a Blessing”
For 50 years ICCF Community Homes has been “blessed to be a blessing” for our neighbors!
Over the course of this special anniversary year, we’ve charted ICCF’s accomplishments and celebrated its impact with grateful hearts. We’ve seen the underlying commitment to housing justice that has been ICCF’s abiding mission spanning the decades – a commitment to both relieve immediate housing needs and provide ways for households to make houses into homes and facilitate neighborhoods where hope abounds.
We’ve also seen how God has sometimes refined and refocused ICCF’s mission as needs and
hanging them in the elevator so they wouldn’t be missed. She helps coordinate one of the weekly Bible studies, preparing materials and coordinating food.
Latoya’s generosity stretches beyond the hallways of 415 MLK, too. “During Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s I cook a big dinner,” she explained.
opportunities evolved, connecting our underlying commitment to new resources when previously relied-on support dried up, sometimes rescuing, at other times painfully pruning, but always calling and equipping ICCF, its staff, volunteers and donors to make a difference, opening windows where doors were closing.
The members of the ICCF Homes & Hope Legacy Society, having faithfully supported the decadeslong arc of this ministry, have also made a commitment to secure its ongoing witness years into the future. To learn more about including a legacy gift to ICCF Community Homes in your will or estate plan, please visit iccf.org/planned-gifts .
“When I was homeless, we only ate what the shelter could prepare for us. Now I take my leftovers, still warm, and pass out dinners to people on the street.” Whether through homemade food, a warm smile, or her own story of grit and tenacity, Latoya is helping create an environment of “home” for everyone she meets.
"As active supporters of ICCF Community Homes for 38 years, we’ve seen the organization’s dedication to housing justice, equity, and strong community. It is a joy to see the impact it has had on so many lives over the past 50 years, including ours. We pray that our legacy gift will help to form a small part of the foundation that enables ICCF’s work to continue long into the future."
- CHUCK AND ELLEN
Housing Pipeline: Highlights from 2017–Present
ICCF's five-story apartment building The Stockbridge takes shape with 64 apartments, conveniently located close to a grocery store and public transportation near downtown Grand Rapids. The Community Homes Land Trust is founded to provide affordable homes for income-qualifying neighbors while ensuring that those homes remain affordable for future generations.
ICCF moves into 415 Martin Luther King Jr. St. SE, renovating a former high school. The project is made possible through collaboration with Madison Church and includes 40 affordable apartments, office space, worship space, and an early childhood learning center. ICCF also opens Emerald Flats apartments, an award-winning renovation of another former school building into multifamily housing, including several units set aside for people with disabilities. Three new homes are constructed in Cedar Springs.
2019 2021 2017 2020
ICCF purchases 270+ homes, later called the Community Homes Initiative, from an out-of-state investor, with the goal of renovating and renting homes to income-qualifying families.
A ribbon cutting is held for the grand opening of Steepleview North and South, two mixed-use apartment buildings with 65 units total, including live-work units on the ground floor. Family Haven celebrates 30 years of serving families with emergency shelter and opens a new, 6th unit of housing.
2022
ICCF unveils a new name and brand identity that better describes its mission and activities: ICCF Community Homes. In partnership with a local builder, ICCF celebrates the ground-up construction of a new, single-family home, part of the Community Homes Land Trust.
The four-story residential development called The Southgate opens with 56 units of senior housing near the heart of downtown Grand Rapids. Five more land trust homes are built, filling formerly empty neighborhood lots.
2023
2024 & BEYOND
Looking ahead, ICCF identifies the need for 35,000 new homes in Kent County before 2027, with 15,000 affordable units. Initiatives like The Seymour, church-partnered affordable housing, and innovative programs will help meet this need. ICCF celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2024, thanking God for its success so far and asking for blessing on future endeavors.
415 Martin Luther King Jr. St. SE, Suite 100
Grand Rapids, MI 49507
Breaking Ground at The Seymour
ICCF has broken ground at The Seymour, a transformative affordable housing initiative in the Alger Heights neighborhood that will create 27 affordable condominium homes in the former Seymour Christian School building.
