Spring 2022
Introducing ICCF Community Homes
IN THIS ISSUE: A Message from our CEO A Home for Jacob’s Family Houses to Homes Gala Highlights Ebenezer Award Recipients Building Generational Wealth 2021 By the Numbers
ICCF BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jamecia Adams, Chair Keller Williams Realty Lee Hardy, Vice Chair Calvin University Tom Prince, Treasurer Hungerford Nichols Arlen-Dean Gaddy, Secretary Erhardt Construction David Contant Build Design Restore (BDR) Mary DeYoung Gray Space Collaborative Marjorie Dood BASIC Benefits LLC William Jackson Spectrum Health Teresa Jones Christian Reformed Church in North America Rhoda Kreuzer Partners in Action, Inc. Eunice Lopez-Martin Steelcase Brianne Pitchford Triangle Associates Inc. Johana Rodriguez Quist Godfrey Lee Public Schools Lexi M. Woods Warner Norcross + Judd LLP Cameron Young Behler-Young
UPCOMING LUNCH & LEARNS MAY 26
SEPT 27
OCT 20
Learn more about our vision for housing justice and how YOU can make an impact. RSVP to: Marie Tiemersma Eakin at mtiemersmaeakin@iccf.org 1
A MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO
Dear ICCF Community Homes friends and partners, Last month, we held our first full-scale Houses to Homes Gala since 2019. It was such a blessing to be back in a ballroom buzzing with energy, full of friends, colleagues, and members of our community. We had exciting news to share, starting with our new name: ICCF Community Homes. I am deeply grateful to the many people who took part in our rebranding process. Our new name incorporates our well-known initials, recognizing our continuing faith-based work in the city we call home. And with the addition of “Community Homes,” we are making it clear that we are working for strong homes and neighborhoods that support generations of positive impact. I was also blessed to tell the stories of two neighbors who have recently become homeowners. Iman was an ICCF Community Homes tenant and homeownership program graduate who was ready to start looking at homes. Sadly, her dad passed away, following her mother who had passed away years before. But in the midst of this tragedy, she received her parents’ gift of a home of her own: her childhood home which they had bought through ICCF Community Homes back in the ‘90s. Their step into homeownership years ago became a blessing for Iman today. Jacob is a refugee from Sudan who undertook a long and difficult journey before arriving in Grand Rapids. One of our local churches, Orchard Hill Church, came alongside him as he worked toward buying his first home from ICCF Community Homes. He got the keys just a week before the gala, and is still working to bring his family to the U.S. and their new home. Iman and Jacob will be able to pass on this gift of generational wealth, an opportunity we want every family to have access to whether they have been here for decades or have just arrived. These stories give us hope even in a time of great challenges both in our local community and worldwide. We are continuing our work in an environment of uncertainty where it only seems to get harder and harder for anyone to afford a home. It would be easy to sit back in the face of a problem that seems unsolvable, but we believe that God has called us to take every opportunity to work for justice in our corner of the world. Will you join us? Grace and peace,
Ryan VerWys President and CEO rverwys@iccf.org Blueprints • Spring 2022
Renovated look. Same foundation. Our new name is ICCF Community Homes. We are excited to share a new name and brand identity with you! After months of exploring a rebrand and talking with our neighbors, partners, staff members, and volunteers, we are delighted to unveil a brand identity that better describes our vision for thriving neighborhoods. Our new name retains the well-known acronym ICCF and adds the “community homes” qualifier to clarify what kind of services we provide. Our new logo is inspired by a birds-eye view of the street intersections around our office at 415 Martin Luther King Jr. St. It reminds us of the importance of proximity, community, and neighbors to the work of housing equity. We are grateful for over four decades of impact in West Michigan thanks to God’s provision through the generosity of our partners and the tenacity of the neighbors we serve. We pray that this new brand identity positions us well for the next four decades of service! Thank you for your support of ICCF and our mission:
EQUITABLE OPPORTUNITY. AFFORDABLE HOMES. THRIVING NEIGHBORHOODS. ICCF Community Homes
2
A Home for Jacob’s Family Through advocacy & support from his church family, Jacob has found a safe place in Grand Rapids to share with his family from South Sudan. Jacob was born in South Sudan, where 8.3 million people are estimated to be in critical need of humanitarian assistance. Due to years of armed conflict, extreme food insecurity, and natural disasters like flooding, many people are displaced from their homes and struggle to provide basic necessities for their families. Jacob left his childhood home when he was just eight years old to escape the civil war that was ravaging his country. He became one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, fleeing violence and looking for safety. “Many of the children who fled were eaten by wild animals,” said Jacob. “Some died because there was no food, no water, no treatment. I didn’t have a plan to come to the U.S., but God made it possible for me.” After getting the chance to come to America as an adult, Jacob settled in West Michigan. His wife and two children, a son named Emmanual and a daughter named Blessing, had to remain in South Sudan. They were waiting on complicated paperwork and the funds — around $25,000 — to be able to join him. As he adjusted to life in the States, Jacob became connected to Orchard Hill Church, where the community took notice of his situation.
3
Debbie Bart, a member at Orchard Hill, said, “Jacob is a hard worker, very honest, and very focused.” But she struggled to imagine how he could reunite his family on his own. “Jacob could live here a long time and still not save enough money,” she remembers thinking. The church decided to hold a fundraiser to help Jacob, and it was a huge success. But then someone asked, “If Jacob brings his family over here, where are they going to live?” With the extremely competitive housing market in Grand Rapids, Jacob would be hard-pressed to find somewhere he could afford to live that would also have room for his family. Orchard Hill Church typically holds a disaster relief mission trip every year, where a group of builders volunteer their skills to restore property abroad. They heard about ICCF’s Community Homes Initiative and decided to get involved renovating homes right in Grand Rapids. “We were repairing homes long before we ever knew that this need for Jacob would arise,” said Pastor Laura Dilley. When
Orchard Hill approached ICCF about finding a home for Jacob’s family, we connected them with a recently renovated property. It just so happened to be one of the homes that Orchard Hill had volunteered to restore. Once again, Jacob witnessed God’s provision as his prayers for a safe place for his family were answered. “This home is a good start to my life, and to my family,” said Jacob. “I thank ICCF for the work they have done for me.” Just a few weeks ago, Jacob moved into his new home. He was accompanied by a whole team of Orchard Hill volunteers who streamed in the front door with gifts of furniture and supplies to furnish the house. They prayed a blessing over Jacob and his new home, and asked for God’s continued direction as Jacob takes the next steps to bring his family into the United States. “I know Jacob appreciates having that home, and I just hope he feels comfortable in it,” said Debbie. “I hope soon his family can join him. That will make the house a home.” Blueprints • Spring 2022
Ebenezer Award Recipients CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2022 AWARD RECIPIENTS FOR THEIR AMAZING SERVICE!
Mary Gelderloos Andrew Miedema
Houses to Homes GALA 2022
GRAND SPONSORS
ProjectGR Pan-Orthodox Churches
Thank you Sponsors!
BENEFACTOR SPONSORS
CHAMPION SPONSORS
Bill & Annette Byl
PATRON SPONSORS BDR Custom Homes, Inc. Bethany Christian Services ChoiceOne Bank Cinnaire Community Automotive Inc. Aaron & Afton DeVos Etna Supply Co. Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis Growtrust Partners
Hungerford Nichols CPAs + Advisors Inontime, Inc. Duane & Jeannette Kelderman Kynda Lake Michigan Credit Union Lumbermen’s, Inc. Mercantile Bank Michigan State Housing Development Authority Plante Moran Deanna & James K.A. Smith
ICCF Community Homes
Summit Point Roofing The Local Church Grand Rapids Steve & Barb Timmermans Triangle Associates, Inc. Vander Lugt, Mulder, DeVries & Elders CPAs Ron & Ruth VerWys Van Haren Electric William & Patricia Waanders
FRIEND SPONSORS
Ajacs Jonathan & Grace Bradford Brewery Vivant CapTrust Chesapeake Community Advisors, Inc. Comcast The Corbett Family Mitchell & Jill DeJonge DeStigter Architecture & Design Dominican Sisters – Grand Rapids DTE Energy Steve & Nicole Dyer Eastbrook Homes
Express Employment Professionals Fence Consultants of West Michigan Fishbeck Giving Back Realty Grand Rapids Community Foundation Grand River Realty Greenridge Realty Dan & Kate Hawkins Helmholdt Construction Dr. Jeffrey Helmus, DDS Hilbrands Landscape Management Katerberg VerHage, Inc. Keller Williams Macatawa Bank Modern Hardware, Inc.
Olivier-VanDyk Insurance Overhead Door of Grand Rapids Pillar to Post Home Inspectors Quantum Leap Rockford Construction Spectrum Health Ryan & Rachel VerWys Warner Norcross + Judd LLP West Michigan Community Bank
4
Building Generational Wealth
2022 - Iman stands in front of the home she now owns.
1990s - Iman’s mom Francene at her newly built ICCF home.
After growing up in a home built by ICCF, Iman was taking steps to become a homeowner herself when she received an incredible gift from her late parents. Iman’s family moved to Grand Rapids when she was very young. They settled in a duplex on Madison Ave. between Hall and Franklin to begin putting down roots. Iman’s parents worked hard to provide for their two children, and they dreamed of someday owning their own home. When Iman was in junior high in the late 90s, her parents went through homeownership classes with ICCF and were able to move into a brand-new home that we had built, just down the road from their old duplex. The whole family was excited and proud to have a place of their own. In 2004, the family was dealt a heavy blow as Iman’s mother passed away suddenly. As Iman’s father became a single father parenting two kids on his own, she remembers how important a steady place to call home was for them. Years later, Iman had grown into a young adult with a family of her own. She sought out ICCF in 2017 to find an affordable place for her growing family of six to live. While she was fortunate enough to secure a Section 8 voucher, the hyper-competitive housing market made finding a lease incredibly difficult. ICCF was able to connect Iman’s family with an affordable rental on the northeast 5
side, where they lived for several years. Iman kept moving towards her goal of homeownership and enrolled in our Introduction to Homeownership classes. She started meeting regularly with one of our housing counselors and created a plan to improve her credit score, save money, and increase her earning potential. She also enrolled in ICCF’s IDA match savings program to move closer towards the purchase of a house. In the fall of 2021, she was ready! Her finances were in order, she was familiar with homeownership responsibilities, and she had her eye on a few ICCF homes that were in her price range. However as she began her search in earnest, her life was disrupted again. After a long health struggle, Iman’s father passed away. Iman put her home search on pause so she could sort through her father’s estate plan. It was then she learned something amazing: after decades of owning his ICCF home, her father had paid off the entire mortgage and made arrangements to leave the family home to Iman.
Right at the moment when she was ready to handle the roles and responsibilities of homeownership herself, Iman became the beneficiary of generational homeownership through her parents’ good planning and hard work. She has since moved into the home with her family and become the primary caregiver for her brother, who has autism. “I told Iman that I know her parents would be so proud of her,” shared CEO Ryan VerWys. “I think they would be thrilled to see generations of their family blessed by the effort they put in years ago in order to own their home.” Owning a home is a big responsibility, but Iman is ready for the challenge and has been given an enormous step forward by her parents. Iman’s housing counselor Nichole DeVries said, “It’s exciting to see her hard work, her parents’, and that of the ICCF community pay off. The money she spends on the house now will be an investment in their future.”
Blueprints • Spring 2022
Ensuring Homes & Hope for the Days to Come
If we stand tall, it is because we stand on the backs of those who came before us.
Yoruba Proverb
Our community’s super-charged housing market has created a severe shortage of affordable living options for families and individuals. Meeting this immediate need is central to the mission of ICCF Community Homes—but it’s not the whole story. For ICCF Community Homes, an individual’s or family’s progress toward a wholesome home is as essential as a roof for the night. Our vision is for individuals and families to put down roots and raise their children in secure stable homes, located in thriving neighborhoods.
2021 By the Numbers
The ICCF Homes & Hope Legacy Society is a group of donors who, by including a gift to ICCF in their estate plans, help assure ICCF’s capacity to provide homes and hope today, and in the days and years to come. If you are considering extending your support for ICCF’s mission with a gift in your estate plan (and, most certainly, if you have already done so), please join us for our first-ever Homes & Hope Legacy Luncheon on May 12, 2022. Check it out at iccf.org/planned-gifts and RSVP by April 29.
305 graduates from our classes
17 homeless families rehoused
7 homes purchased through match savings
18 new homeowners supported
91 apartment homes completed 6
NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID GRAND RAPIDS, MI PERMIT #313
415 Martin Luther King Jr. St. SE, Suite 100 Grand Rapids, MI 49507
The Foundation of our Work We are so grateful for the many team members who work towards housing equity every day! Our Mission
Equitable Opportunity. Affordable Homes. Thriving Neighborhoods. P: (616) 336-9333 | ICCF.org