Northpointe Bank believes in the value of building trusted life-long relationships with the communities it serves. Since 2015, Seeds of Promise, a local nonprofit, and Northpointe Bank have administered the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis (FHLBank Indianapolis) Neighborhood Impact Program to provide home repair grants up to $7,500 to low- and moderate-income homeowners in our community. These funds are used to restore roofs, windows, siding, exterior doors, furnaces, and water heaters. In nine years, the Neighborhood Impact Program has helped 80 low- and moderate-income homeowners improve their homes.
On Thursday, June 23, Northpointe Bank, Seeds of Promise, and FHLBank Indianapolis hosted an affordable housing workshop. The workshop focused on the development of owner-occupied affordable housing in the Grand Rapids area, specifically targeting the 49507 zip code. The event included brainstorming sessions that identified the best solutions to the affordable housing crisis in Grand Rapids.
Honorary speakers included Rev. Faith Fowler, who led the development of a tiny home community in Detroit benefiting extremely low-income individuals; Sue Ortiz, Chief Programs Officer Habitat for Humanity of Michigan; and Yarrow Brown, Executive Director of Housing North.
Workshop attendees included executives from Northpointe Bank and local nonprofits, local government and neighborhood leadership, city and county commissioners, real estate agents, developers, and builders.
As part of the event, Northpointe Bank and Seeds of Promise were awarded a $10,000 implementation grant from FHLBank Indianapolis. Northpointe Bank donated an additional $30,000 to Seeds of Promise to kickstart this initiative. Members will now form implementation team(s) to put the event’s insights and ideas into action. They will focus on engaging our community in development models, recruiting low- and moderate-income Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE) individuals, and/or African American and Hispanic/Latino prospective small homeowner champions to be part of our implementation team. They will concentrate on building partnerships among attendees and advising on the disbursement of the implementation funds.
