Lowell — Flat River Outreach Ministries Development Director Adrianne Hall knows housing prices and family income are out of whack.
She’s heard the stories from families in dire need of housing, and looked at the numbers. The costs of homes and rent are out of reach for many, many families.
“The need is there; it’s growing. There are a number of families in our school district that either have unstable housing, insecure housing or are homeless (while) attending school,” she said.
According to Zillow, the average home price in Lowell is $372,260. Median rent is $1,500. According to U.S Census data, the median household income in 2022 was just under $60,000 in the city of Lowell, and about $93,000 in the entire 134 square-mile district.
The imbalance of income versus housing costs is being seen across the country, limiting people’s options when it comes to where they live, what type of housing they live in, and how much they have left for food and other expenses.
An impact study for FROM conducted by Calvin University Center for Social Research indicated that 23% of those who responded said they spent at least 50% of their income on housing.
‘If we had more affordable housing options in Lowell, I don’t believe we would have an enrollment concern at all.’
— Dan VanderMeulen, LAS curriculum director, homeless liaison
Few Affordable Housing Options
FROM is an all-in-one resource organization for food, clothes and other needs serving families in Lowell Area Schools. Of the many services it provides, keeping roofs over heads is one of them.
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The organization at 11535 Fulton St. E operates Main Street Housing, a house providing 10 units of affordable housing in the community. Fundraising for an additional 17 units is underway.
According to a 2022 Housing Needs Assessment for Grand Rapids and Kent County, there’s a need for more than 5,000 units of affordable housing in Kent County outside of Grand Rapids to keep up with the current pace.
“With 17 units, we will have them filled within just a couple months,” Hall said.
There’s not much else that fits the “affordable” category when it comes to housing in Lowell, she said. “The options are pretty limited in our neighborhood.”
LAS Director of Curriculum Dan VanderMeulen serves as the district’s McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act liaison. The federal legislation seeks to help children and youth break the barriers to education if they find themselves without a permanent home.
Currently, about 45 Lowell students are receiving help under that act, which is up from about 25-35 in recent years. He expects that number to go up as more families report lack of housing. Often, families who live “doubled-up” with other families are unreported.
While moving in with others is the most common situation for those facing housing insecurity, some circumstances need urgent attention. VanderMeulen was working to help a family living in a camper in a park that closes for the winter.
“They are OK into October,” he said, “but what do they do after that?”
He refers families facing such urgent need to Family Promise, which helps find emergency and permanent housing. “The housing, though, that is affordable and that they can find, is not in the Lowell school district,” he said.
VanderMeulen said the high cost of housing has led to an enrollment decline in Lowell. According to MI School Data, student numbers dropped from 3,774 students in 2019-20 to 3,436 in 2023-24. Most districts in Kent County and throughout the state have also lost students.
“If we had more affordable housing options in Lowell, I don’t believe we would have an enrollment concern at all,” he said. “There aren’t a lot of houses for sale and the options are for new construction.”
“Housing prices have gone up so much that families are spending $400,000 to $600,00 for a home, and the average young couple can’t afford that, especially those with school-age kids.”
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