Who We Are
Community Housing Choices is a program under the umbrella of New Designs for Growth and administered by the Northwest Michigan Council of Governments (NWMCOG). The goal of Community Housing Choices is to ensure sufficient housing choices for the region’s workforce, using education, collaboration, and advocacy to promote the adoption of land use and economic tools that will contribute to livable, vibrant communities. Community Housing Choices is reaching out to governments, nonprofits, developers, and citizens to help initiate change in our communities. Some of our activities include:

• Communication and outreach
• Technical assistance and resources to assist communities in updating policies that affect affordable housing
• Best practices research and analysis for communities
• Resources for local businesses to help develop employer-assisted housing programs

History
Community Housing Choices began as a group of organizations working to improve affordable housing opportunities through education and outreach. Members represented housing agencies, charities, advocacy groups, nonprofits, and local governments in Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, and Kalkaska Counties.

In 2007, Community Housing Choices and Traverse City Rotary Camps and Services began a planning process to further explore the region’s affordable housing issues. The goal of the planning process was to develop an organizational structure that would help remove barriers to affordable housing and create housing opportunities for the region’s workforce.

As technical consultants and facilitators of this process, the Great Lakes Capital Fund (GLCF) developed an action plan for these goals. Through focus groups, planning sessions, and interviews with stakeholders, GLCF evaluated various structural scenarios, appropriate agency roles, and lines of accountability to determine the most effective ways to handle the community’s housing concerns.

This study resulted in a recommendation to house the Community Housing Choices program under NWMCOG, as part of the New Designs for Growth program. New Designs for Growth is a collaborative venture developed to help guide the region’s growth and development. The program was managed by the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce until 2007, when the Chamber and NWMCOG entered into a partnership to manage implementation and outreach activities for New Designs for Growth. Linkage of the New Designs for Growth with Community Housing Choices will work to advance the collaborative, planning-focused goals of both programs.

Advisory Committee
An eight-member advisory committee provides direction for the Community Housing Choices activities. The committee includes representatives from financial, development, housing nonprofit, human service, philanthropy, and economic development interests, as well as the general public. Members are:

Tim Burden
RED Management (New Designs for Growth representative)

Jim Connaughton
Huntington National Bank

Virginia Coulter
Traverse City Housing Commission

Bryan Crough
Traverse City Downtown Development Authority

Bill Merry
Homestretch

Matt Schmidt
General Public

Marsha Smith
Rotary Charities