Andrea Jacobs
Contributed by: Andrea Jacobs, Emmet County Housing Ready Program Director
Crisis. Problem. Barriers. We are all facing the same picture. We, in Northern Michigan, are having similar conversations in economics, housing, transportation, and resource protection. I would like to encourage us to reframe our version of this challenge. Let us, instead, use words like cooperation, innovation, and readiness. Let us remind one another as we seek to be proactive that we do it for each other, our community, and our future generations. We know it and believe it, which is why so many of us are working so passionately to improve the outlook. Sometimes, especially in housing and labor, our words start to categorize and label “them,” but, there is just us.
Housing Readiness involves cooperation among local units of government, non-profits, community members and technical professionals and businesses (all of us). Creative, dynamic conversations are necessary with employers, educators, and neighbors (each of us). Innovation is crucial but can be uncomfortable (for us). Embracing our Blue Economy, as NLEA’s Sam Bailey illustrated, reminds us to be protective and build with conservation and sustainability in mind. Revitalizing our cities and villages accommodates our community members in all phases of our housing needs. Higher density dwellings reflect choices to be closer to each other and our work, not just economic limitations. Variability in size and affordability help us feel connected to our neighbors, not isolated.
My name is Andrea Jacobs. I am not an economist, or an urban planner. I am the new Emmet County Housing Ready Program Director with Housing North. I think about place and community and home a little differently because my background is in social psychology. Housing matters to the economy. The statistics are staggering. But a home, having access to it, feeling welcome in it, being able to settle in safely and plan for the future at a kitchen table, that matters to a person. It makes us measurably healthier, far more emotionally and financially invested in the local community, helps our families thrive and our children be more successful. It matters to a village when people who love it, children who have grown up in it, stay to build a life. We, in Northern Michigan, must create these places. From towns to rural townships, we must go beyond structures and build homes.
In Northern Michigan, we are ready. Ready to have tough conversations. Ready to compromise and cooperate. Ready to grow with intention. Ready to protect what we have always loved and create something we are proud to share. With housing partners in place throughout Northern Michigan, new expertise accelerates our capability to find community led solutions. Charlevoix County, with the help of Steve Schnell (Housing Ready Program Director with Housing North), and partners like NLEA, has been systematically identifying and removing barriers to increase the number of affordable homes. Emmet County has recently renewed their partnership with NLEA and encouraged placement of a Housing Ready Program Director from Housing North. Emmet County also has a network of non-profit partners that have been building Housing Readiness. The Little Traverse Bay Housing Partnership includes Habitat for Humanity, The Petoskey Harbor Springs Community Foundation, Harbor Inc., The Petoskey Chamber of Commerce, and a collection of community experts volunteering and representing their community in local government. Our round table is getting bigger, as different areas of our economy affected by housing are ready to take action.
