On April 26, 2022, dozens of nonprofit agency staff, pastors, deacons, and other ministry leaders in Grand Rapids met to learn more about how churches can seek justice in affordable housing and immigration. Listen here:
- Keynote address: Artie Lindsay, senior pastor, Tabernacle Community Church
- Affordable housing panel: Patrick Moran, CEO, 70×7 Life Recovery; Stephanie Gingerich, director of real estate development, LINC UP; Ryan Verwys, CEO, ICCF Community Homes; Joan Huyser-Honig, panel host.
- Immigration panel: Melissa Stek, media communications manager, Interfaith Immigration Coalition; Katie Carpenter, community engagement & co-sponsor developer, Refugee Resettlement, Bethany Christian Services of Michigan; Sylvia Nyamuhungu, Michigan refugee community organizer, Church World Service; Joel Lautenbach, ED of affordable living development, Samaritas; Andrew Ryskamp, panel host.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING RESOURCES FOR CHURCHES
Gather a group to read and discuss a book:
- Beyond Homelessness: Christian Faith in a Culture of Displacement by Steven Bouma-Prediger and Brian J. Walsh
- The Color of Law: a Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
- Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
- Race and Place: How Urban Geography Shapes the Journey to Reconciliation by David P. Leong
- Making Housing & Community Happen has recommended readings on housing and theology
Attend quarterly Lunch & Learn events sponsored by ICCF Community Homes to learn more about and get involved in equitable opportunity, affordable homes, and thriving neighborhoods.
Recognize which assets your church already has that you can use toward affordable housing justice. Read this article about Lee Hardy’s work on faith communities and affordable housing. Then search his website to find real life examples of how other churches used their assets to increase affordable housing. Learn how your church can include housing and justice in worship.
Getting involved with returning citizens may open your eyes to how hard it is to move from incarceration to affordable housing. Read Reentry and Housing Coalition’s overview of housing options for reentry. When you’re trying to help a specific person or family find housing, go to FindHelp.org, enter the zip code for the area you need, then follow the dropdown menu for housing and other issues.
IMMIGRATION RESOURCES FOR CHURCHES
Read Kent County’s 36-page Welcome Plan for New Americans to find out how you can join other faith communities in working with immigrants and refugees. Get ideas from Global Detroit’s Welcoming Michigan initiative.
Build your church’s cross-cultural competency by exploring Global Cognition’s book, publications, research, and other resources.
Connect with people of other cultures:
- Volunteer to teach English language learners (ELL) also known as English as a second language (ESL) at Church of the Servant CRC or Grand Rapids International Fellowship (GRIF) or Literacy Center of West Michigan.
- Volunteer as a mentor or English, math, or science tutor for youth enrolled in the FutureNow! program of African Resource Center.
- Oakdale Neighbors works with many youth born in West Africa. They need volunteers year round, including school year volunteers for chess club and tutoring and summer volunteers for coding, robotics, and entrepreneurship programs.
- If your business needs employees, follow the example of Lacks Enterprises and Gentex by tapping into the talent of non-English speakers. Contact West Michigan Literacy for a Customized Workplace English literacy program geared to your company’s context.
- Shop the Treetops Collective store/website or volunteer. This local resource connects neighbors, particularly women, to people, opportunities, and cross-cultural connections.
If you’re working with an immigrant, asylum seeker, or refugee with a specific need:
- To enroll refugee children in school, consult Refugee Education Center.
- To consider becoming a foster family, attend a no-commitment informational meeting hosted by Bethany Christian Services (Bethany).
- To help meet immediate refugee resettlement needs, ask to join Bethany’s Refugee Resettlement Settlement (Grand Rapids) private Facebook group.
- For legal resources, contact Michigan Immigrant Rights Center.
- To foster a Muslim youth or support a Muslim foster family, contact Muslim Foster Care.
- For public benefits offered to refugees, consult Michigan’s Refugee Assistance and Services
Join advocates already working toward immigration justice.
- If you’re not sure which advocacy group to join, then prioritize those led by people directly impacted by immigration injustices—immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees.
- For local level advocacy, follow Movimiento Cosecha GR (https://www.facebook.com/cosechagr) and give to GR Rapid Response to ICE (https://www.facebook.com/RapidResponseGR).
- For national-level advocacy immigrations news and advocacy opportunities, sign up for the Interfaith Immigration Coalition newsletter and Church World Service take action emails.
