Avalon Housing

Thanks to all tenants, clients and staff who hopefully ate their fill at our annual Pancake Breakfast this week! Little known fact: our maintenance team staff are excellent cooks!

Great turnout and engagement at the Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness 9th annual Advocacy Day! Avalon VOCAL members and staff, and staff from the Washtenaw Housing Alliance and the Shelter Association of Washtenaw County, met with state Rep. Carrie Rheingans and state Rep. Jennifer Conlin to thank them for their support and update them on our work.

A state grant worth $1.5 million over two years will help Avalon continue to make a difference in the lives of our tenants and clients. Read more: https://lnkd.in/g5sTp64p

Congrats to Evivian Lehman for being included in the United Way's Volunteer Honor Roll for 2025! We appreciate your contributions so much! https://lnkd.in/gt7ahMY8

The Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHVs) were a lifeline to help individuals and families exit homelessness into permanent housing. In Washtenaw County, we were able to use EHVs from the state, Ann Arbor Housing Commission and Plymouth Housing Commission. Michigan State Housing Development Authority's housing choice voucher (HCV) waitlist, which prioritizes homeless households, has been closed for almost a year, which has been even more devastating. The loss of EHVs means we have less permanent housing voucher opportunities to offer people experiencing a housing crisis right now and some people may even lose their housing vouchers as a result. https://lnkd.in/e_YggQKq

Important reporting from the New York Times on people employed full-time who can't afford a place to live. This phenomenon is probably not unique to New York City. https://lnkd.in/eWEV4BW4

Thank you to the volunteer team from Global Health Alliance for your cleaning and landscaping help last week at our property on Pontiac Trail! For info on volunteering with Avalon, see https://lnkd.in/g8xEiVMh

Thank you to WEMU and the United Way for Southeastern Michigan for giving Avalon Housing Executive Director Aaron Cooper the time to discuss our efforts to reduce homelessness in Washtenaw County. We're optimistic that advocacy and collaboration will help us keep working towards a world in which everyone has a home. https://lnkd.in/gzfH2VX2

Today we mourn the passing of Hugh Shirato, a long-time friend and former board member of Avalon Housing. The entire Avalon community sends our condolences to Hugh's friends and family. https://lnkd.in/g8j-44kW

Coming this Friday! An appearance by Bernadette Atuahene in celebration of the release of her book "Plundered: How Racist Policies Undermine Black Homeownership in America." The author and U-M professor of public policy H. Luke Shafer will be at Literati bookstore at 6:30 p.m. to discuss how predatory policies eviscerate communities and widen the racial wealth gap. More info: https://lnkd.in/gwdSdqfK