Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week

Every person deserves to live without worrying whether they’ll have food on their plate or a roof over their head. For the past 50 years, Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week has been a time to call attention to these challenges and inspire action, a challenge near and dear to ICCF Community Homes’ heart. At ICCF, we believe that all people deserve safe, affordable housing and that stable housing is essential to foster a thriving community.

Hunger and homelessness continue to affect many of our neighbors. Housing challenges stem from a history of discriminatory practices that disenfranchised African Americans and other minorities, from slavery and segregation to redlining and subtle bias. Today, low inventory, rising costs, and escalating rents continue to block families from stable, affordable housing. In fact, according to Kent County’s Community Health Needs Assessment, 1 in 3 residents live in unaffordable housing, and in West Michigan, 1 in 7 people experience food insecurity, a number that is steadily rising.

What can we do? As the oldest nonprofit affordable housing provider in Michigan, ICCF Community Homes has been the forefront of affordable rental housing, homeownership education and home purchase opportunities:

Shelter Support

Family Haven, ICCF’s 6-unit emergency family shelter, offers a door open to rest where families experiencing homelessness can stay together while pursuing permanent housing. Our staff comes alongside families during their stay to identify the barriers that lead to homelessness while also helping them secure permanent housing, employment, transportation, and educational opportunities.

Supportive Family Services

By combining affordable housing with case management and connections to health, behavioral health, and community resources, ICCF can walk alongside families with love to maintain stable housing. Life skills education and resource connections such as cooking classes, financial planning, and transportation support enable neighbors to achieve lasting, dependable housing.

Housing Restoration

The ICCF Community Homes Initiative program is focused on renewing and restoring homes to families in our neighborhood, preserving these properties for affordable housing. With the labor and love of volunteers, churches and supportive vendors, homes with a long history, in need of care and elbow grease, are restored into homes that will last a lifetime.

It takes a caring community working together to address these urgent needs. You can help lend a hand to those in immediate need, while also supporting meaningful long-term solutions when you give where your heart is! Learn how you can support these ongoing needs and services in our community when you visit iccf.org/heart.