ICCF Community Homes - Blueprints, Winter 2023

Fall

ICCF COMMUNITY HOMES BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Lee Hardy, Chair

Calvin University Emeritus

Eunice Lopez-Martin, Vice-Chair Steelcase

Tom Prince, Treasurer

Hungerford Nichols

Cameron Young, Secretary

Behler-Young

Jamecia Adams, Past Chair

Keller Williams Realty

David Contant

Build Design Restore (BDR)

Mary DeYoung

Gray Space Collaborative

Marjorie Dood

BASIC Benefits LLC

Arlen-Dean Gaddy

Erhardt Construction

William Jackson

Corewell Health

Teresa Jones

Christian Reformed Church in North America

Rhoda Kreuzer

Partners in Action, Inc.

Brianne Pitchford

Triangle Associates Inc.

Johana Rodriguez Quist

Godfrey Lee Public Schools

Lexi M. Woods

Great Lakes Commercial Finance Learn

A MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO

Dear ICCF Community Homes friends and partners,

We are an organization dedicated to Community, so much so that last year we added the word to our name. And in a thriving community, members are able to choose satisfying work that uses their varied and diverse talents.

In this issue you’ll meet Lewis Richards, who operates Strong Dance LLC at ICCF’s Steepleview Apartments. At Strong Dance, Lewis works to inspire people to live happier and healthier lives through dance. From his studio in the Baxter neighborhood, he is working to open up fitness and dance training to populations who face barriers of access and affordability. For a long time, a storefront of his own seemed out of reach, but his live/work unit at Steepleview helped him achieve this dream. I am grateful that our team has been able to welcome him into a space that is not just a home, but also an opportunity to pursue his life’s calling.

This is an example of the first pillar of our organizational mission: Equitable Opportunity. While it is critical to have a safe and stable home, it is also important to be able to use the gifts of your talent and background to do work that allows you to thrive. Access to affordable office and storefront space is one way to create this opportunity.

I’d like to end on a note close to home. It’s hard to believe, but my oldest son Malachi has now begun his final semester of high school. I am immensely proud of the grit and humility he has shown as he worked toward this moment. People have been asking me, now that graduation is here, what do you hope he becomes as an adult? My answer is simply this: I can’t say specifically what job or role is the perfect one for him, but my hope is that he can use his passions, skills, and unique experiences to make a living that is fulfilling to him. Just like Lewis Richards.

May you also have the opportunity to use your gifts to fulfill your calling and meet the world’s needs.

Grace and peace,

RSVP to:

Ellen

Ryan VerWys President and CEO rverwys@iccf.org

The Impact of You

Creating more equitable communities in Grand Rapids isn’t just for adults. Our Volunteer Coordinator Sheryl Baas says she works with teenagers on a regular basis and they have contributed hundreds of hours to the ICCF mission. “I love having high school and middle school students come in and volunteer,” said Sheryl. “Not only do we get the benefit of all the work they provide, but it also gives us the opportunity to educate them about the housing crisis and what part they can play in helping their community.”

Over the last six months, ICCF Community Homes has hosted nearly 20 groups of teens from area schools and churches and two groups from out of state. Rob Monroe serves as the Director of Children, Youth, and Family Ministries at First Presbyterian Church of Kirkwood, Missouri. His students drove up to ICCF last summer to assist with home renovations. “Our students learned

all sorts of new skills, from tearing up floors to painting, from installing flooring to rebuilding a retaining wall,” said Rob. “At the end of each day, they knew the work we were doing mattered in the moment and in the long run.”

As she speaks to volunteer groups, Sheryl understands that being presented with something as big as the housing crisis can be overwhelming for anyone, let alone a teenager. “I try to stress to all of our volunteers, and especially our teens, what a difference they are making for local families. We solve the problem one house at a time,” she said.

Northpointe Christian School's Big Picture Learning Teacher Scott Hofman agrees. “ICCF showed my students how a city like Grand Rapids can provide a local response to such a large-scale problem like the housing shortage,” he said. “I love the work that ICCF does, and I’m glad my students were exposed to their work and their mission. They walked away excited and inspired."

Dancing Through Life

In a live/work unit at ICCF’s Steepleview Apartments, one entrepreneur is helping clients find a healthy groove.

At Strong Dance, clients are asked to arrive in comfortable clothes, ready to sweat. In return, they receive personalized encouragement and training in a well-provisioned, comfortable, judgment-free zone. The business is owned and operated by Lewis Richards, who functions as part personal trainer, part dance instructor. When Lewis is closing his studio for the day, he exits through a back door that leads directly to his one-bedroom apartment at Steepleview, an ICCF multifamily development. The live/work setup allows him to fully embrace his mission to educate, create, and inspire people to healthier, happier lives through fitness and dance.

Lewis is an accomplished athlete with years of training. “But on the inside, I’m just this nerdy kid who likes to dance,” he said with a smile. At 15 years old, Lewis accepted a girl’s invitation to dance class in the hopes of getting a date. Instead of

leading to a romantic relationship, Lewis found himself falling in love with the elegant movement and physical challenge of dance. Even when his classmate stopped attending, Lewis knew it would be a part of his life forever.

After high school, Lewis dreamed of studying dance in New York City and returning to teach youth. He worked in a variety of positions in West Michigan, including gigs as a personal trainer and dance teacher. Lewis found that many of his dance students were interested in strength training and many of his fitness clients wanted to look better on the dance floor. He recognized an opportunity to merge the two worlds and open his own business, inspired by his aunt’s legacy.

“My aunt was a personal trainer and a strong woman,” said Lewis. “She really loved to dance, and when she passed, I realized she would have wanted something better for me.” Lewis started dreaming of a dance/fitness studio near the popular Wealthy Street business corridor with its salons, shops, and restaurants. He began searching with the help of a realtor, who quickly pointed out that area would be far outside of his price range. Frustrated, Lewis realized he was right. After a few weeks of being disappointed by sky-high costs, a friend recommended that he investigate Steepleview. It’s been a perfect match ever since, as the business celebrates its third anniversary in the space this spring.

Strong Dance occupies one of six live/work units at Steepleview, which contains a total of 65 apartments, a community space and kids’ room, and onsite parking. Opened in early 2020, the building earned LEED Silver designation for sustainability efforts and also includes affordable housing for formerly homeless youth in partnership with Bethany Christian Services. The income-based units help ensure neighbors who would otherwise be priced out of the neighborhood can help contribute to its vibrancy, warmth, and success.

The live/work units also provide a unique opportunity to support local entrepreneurs whose businesses enrich the community. The connected commercial storefronts have 700-900 square feet of retail, service, or active office space. The space is designed to allow business owners to thrive at home and in their work without having to choose between one or the other.

Lewis finds joy and strength in movement, and he wants his clients to do the same. “My priorities have always been people first, product second, price third,” said Lewis. He tailors his programs to a client’s

specific desire for anything from fitness boot camp, to ballroom dancing, to joint mobility training. Lewis encourages his clients to make their own dreams a reality, reminding them that hard work will be rewarded. And for Lewis, it has been.

“My passion is to help people ‘dance through life,’ remaining strong even through hurt and pain,” said Lewis. He recognizes that his clients

Strong Dance

Lewis Richards strongdance525@gmail.com

walk through the doors of Strong Dance carrying many burdens. Eventually, they learn to bear them better through the self-confidence, strength, and grace they learn from Lewis.

“We’re all on a journey. We have to believe that we can be strong people in the midst of all the struggle,” said Lewis. “The question is, are we willing to dance through it?”

Building Buildings… and More

Throughout its history, ICCF Community Homes has renovated and built buildings – homes for people to live in, coupled with services that help people thrive. That’s why ICCF has been a natural fit for Ken and Donna Westveer’s involvement and financial giving.

Before he retired, Ken‘s career was all about building buildings, first as a carpenter, but mostly as a job supervisor and then construction superintendent for Visser Brothers Construction. In retirement, beginning in the early 2000s, Ken offered his construction skills as a volunteer for a number of ministries, including ICCF, where initially he served on a Beckwith Hills Christian Reformed Church volunteer project and then as a “regular” volunteer on a wide variety of ICCF building and renovation jobs.

Donna’s career as a nurse and mental health care administrator led her to share Ken’s commitment to support ICCF’s mission for people and families in need of safe and affordable homes.

Life-long Grand Rapids residents, Ken and Donna both graduated from Grand Rapids Christian High in the 1950s. They were excited to see their alma-mater’s transformation into a center encompassing affordable apartment homes, early childhood development, worship and ministry space, as well as office space for ICCF Community Homes.

Together, Ken and Donna feel grateful that they’ve been blessed by God with health and adequate material things, never having to go to bed wondering whether they could pay for housing, food, or clothing. They’re also grateful to be able to extend those blessings through their long-term support for ICCF’s mission and ministry in our community.

To learn more about including a gift to ICCF in your will or trust, visit iccf.org/planned-gifts or contact Hank Kroondyk, ICCF Planned Giving Specialist at hkroondyk@iccf.org

"Knowing our gifts stay in our locale and are managed by a Christian organization is important to us, as is getting to know the ICCF staff through personal contact. We have chosen to make ICCF part of our legacy so this work will go on after God chooses to call us home."

KEN & DONNA WESTVEER

Housing Pipeline: The Southgate

This January, we were delighted to celebrate the ribbon cutting of The Southgate, our newest affordable housing development. The $19 million project provides 56 units of much-needed senior housing in Grand Rapids. The four-story residential development includes:

• 56 total residential units for neighbors over 62 years old, with 50 reserved as affordable units for low-income households

• One- and two-bedroom units

• Ground floor includes community, fitness, and laundry spaces, as well as a library in the lobby and bike storage

• Onsite property management and maintenance

• Outdoor space includes the Albert Paley sculpture “Jester” as well as a bocce ball court

Now installed outside The Southgate, the sculpture “Jester” was part of the six-month Paley exhibition in 2013 on Park Avenue in New York City. Located at the intersection of 57th Street and Park Avenue, “Jester” was one of the 13 monumental works created by Paley for the exhibition. Following its display in New York, the sculpture was gifted to ICCF by Fieldstead and Company.

“After extensive planning and development, we are excited to welcome residents to The Southgate,” said our CEO Ryan VerWys. “This new space provides beautiful homes and amenities to our senior neighbors and is conveniently located right near the heart of downtown Grand Rapids.”

2022 Gifts in Honor

Jonathan Bradford

Bill & Annette Byl

Thomas Dykstra

Tim & Brandi Engen

Leisa Joseph & Alex Schekker

George & Lucie Marsden

Kelsey Kruis McFarland

Dakota Riehl

Steve & Amy Ruis

Jayasree Thammineni

Bob & Peg Van Andel

Deane Van Dyke

Blanche VanderBent

Jacob Wiltse

Matt & Eve Wixtrom

2022 Gifts in Memory

Andrew Bandstra

Bill Dracht

Bob Gustavson

Tom & Elaine Harper

Rich & Annie Meyer

Mitzie Murphy

Patrick Riley

Virginia Scholl

2022 Staff Milestones

5 YEARS

Berniz Constanza Terpstra

Michelle Covington

Kelsey McFarland

Dakota Riehl

Derrick Smith

10 YEARS

Paul Miyamoto