Michigan churches lead affordable housing push amid state shortage

Pastor Monique French and her congregation at Washington Heights United Methodist Church in Battle Creek are raising money to build 17 affordable homes in one of the Cereal City’s poorest neighborhoods, joining a growing number of faith-based organizations across the country stepping into affordable housing development. Churches in Traverse City, Charlevoix, Grand Rapids, Detroit and elsewhere across Michigan have accelerated their homebuilding efforts as the state confronts a shortage of roughly 119,000 homes—a gap that economists say stifles growth by limiting personal wealth and exacerbates worker scarcity.

With regulatory barriers slowing construction, churches with available land and community connections are emerging as unusual players in affordable housing development. Yet Michigan has adopted none of the policies other states have enacted to ease the way, leaving advocates pushing for what is known as ‘Yes in God’s Backyard’ (YIGBY) legislation.

Crisis and response

Pastor Monique French describes her church’s housing initiative with the language of transformation. “It’s actually community revitalization,” French, who also serves as a Calhoun County commissioner, said of the effort by Washington Heights United Methodist Church to build 17 homes in one of Battle Creek’s poorest neighborhoods. “We’re just trying to assist people with opportunities for the neighborhood to be vibrant again.”

The effort reflects a trend across Michigan and the nation. Churches in Traverse City, Charlevoix, Grand Rapids, Detroit and elsewhere have accelerated their involvement in affordable housing development in the past five years, moving to fill the gap left by market forces and regulatory obstacles.

“It stimulates the community,” French said. “It revives the hope.”

Michigan confronts a substantial supply problem. The state has 4.7 million housing units, according to state officials, and faces a deficit of roughly 119,000 homes to meet current demand.

The shortage has become visible enough to register as a priority for ordinary residents. A Bridge Michigan reader survey on election issues found that nearly 1 in 10 of approximately 1,000 respondents named housing as a top priority, with residents of Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing and Traverse City mentioning it most frequently.

The involvement of faith institutions in addressing the shortage is not new, but its pace has quickened. “We are seeing more interest from churches as the housing crisis has become more visible and more urgent,” said Katie Bach, a spokesperson for the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.

Nationally, the number of faith-backed homebuilding projects has accelerated in the last five years, according to Nadia Mian, senior program director at Rutgers University’s Ralph W. Voorhees Center for Civic Engagement, who studies church involvement in housing.

“These are not generally speculative projects,” Mian said. “This is probably like the one property that many of them had that they are going to build on. That faith element, then, really does play a key part in what makes these a little bit different.”

Why churches as developers

Churches possess assets other housing developers may lack. Many have stood in communities for generations, often on land near community centers, transportation, schools and hospitals—prime real estate for residential development. After years of shrinking congregations, many occupy empty buildings and sit on vacant land.

Their community standing also matters. “Churches are often built near community centers, close to transportation, schools and hospitals,” explained Ryan VerWys, chief executive of ICCF Community Homes, a nonprofit developer. Churches “tend to have good relationships with their neighbors, and that serves as a good launching pad for potential development where there might otherwise be significant pushback.”

Yet barriers exist. Churches can be hindered by local zoning rules that prohibit residential development in commercial zones, by regulations requiring a certain number of parking spaces, and by permitting requirements complex even for experienced developers.

“You have these churches that already have existing properties,” said Lauren Strickland, executive director of Abundant Housing Michigan, a nonprofit that advocates for regulatory changes. “They may not fit neatly into what the zoning codes say. The back and forth with that, it’s not easy to do.”

Policy solutions and progress

Over a dozen states have introduced or passed legislation broadly known as “Yes in God’s Backyard” (YIGBY)—a counter to the “not in my backyard” (NIMBY) sentiment—to ease regulatory burdens on church-led housing projects and provide grants.

California enacted such legislation in 2023, allowing churches to bypass most local permitting requirements when building affordable housing on their land.

At the federal level, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, is sponsoring the “Yes In God’s Back Yard Act,” which would streamline regulations and set aside $50 million per year for grants. “We’re going to need an ‘all-of-the-above’ approach,” Warner said in a statement about housing policy.

Michigan, however, has seen no such legislation introduced. Though several groups are advocating for YIGBY legislation in Lansing, the effort has not yet moved lawmakers.

Washington Heights United Methodist Church’s project, supported by a $345,000 grant from the WK Kellogg Foundation, $200,000 from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, and $360,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds from the city, illustrates both the potential and the challenges. The nonprofit formed by the church purchased several parcels of land from the city and the Calhoun County Land Bank and plotted space for 17 new homes.

The first home, an energy-efficient, two-bedroom house with a two-car garage, cost approximately $250,000 to build. The church listed it for sale in spring 2024 at $190,000—below construction cost but above the neighborhood’s median home price of $96,000 (the city as a whole has a median home price of $128,000). French said the strategy was designed to balance affordability for families with an effort to drive up property values throughout the neighborhood, generating wealth for residents.

The home has not sold after nearly two years on the market. French said she has faith it will eventually find a buyer and the church will be able to raise funds to continue building.

Success often depends on partnerships. Richard Cannon, chief executive officer of Church of the Messiah Housing Corp., an offshoot of a Detroit church that has built housing in the Motor City since 1978, pointed to a recent project in which a private developer with federal funding approached the church about using those resources for one of their properties.

“Partnerships matter,” Cannon said.

In Kent County, ICCF Community Homes raised nearly $13 million to help build 200 affordable housing units—100 to sell and 100 to rent—on church property throughout the Grand Rapids area by 2030. The scale of the undertaking illustrates what organizations working across sectors can accomplish. “The housing needs that we’re facing in Michigan, and west Michigan especially, are so big that no one approach is going to solve everything,” VerWys said. “YIGBY is an exciting trend.”