Open Doors offers more affordable housing

Fifteen working families will have the opportunity to avoid or overcome homelessness as Open Doors Kalamazoo expands its affordable housing program through the purchase of a 15-unit apartment building.

 

The property at 3611 Duke Street in Kalamazoo has eight two-bedroom apartments, three two-bedroom apartments, and four one-bedroom apartments.

 

Open Doors Kalamazoo purchased the new property for $320,000. The organization says that "a remarkable deal when you consider that it will provide homes to 15 households."

 

An additional $52,000 worth of upgrades to the buildings are expected to be made, including new roofs.  

 

The purchase and upgrading of these apartments was made possible by a grant from the Van Domelen Foundation.

 

Open Doors Kalamazoo partners with low-wage working men and women to give them the power to support themselves and their families and overcome or avoid homelessness. Through housing, partnerships, and advocacy, Open Doors Kalamazoo has been helping individuals and families overcome homelessness since 1970.

 

Open Doors Kalamazoo now provides 95 units of housing to help low-wage workers avoid or overcome homelessness. Those units range from single rooms to studio apartments to one- to three-bedroom apartments across Kalamazoo. 

 

"We recently were able to provide a two-bedroom apartment to a mom with two children who has held a steady job for two years," says  Rick Stravers, Executive Director of Open Doors Kalamazoo. "She takes home about $1,000 a month and was paying $580 monthly for rent, leaving only $420 for all the other expenses for her family. In Open Doors’ housing she will now pay $350 monthly for a two-bedroom unit."

 

Residents in Open Doors Kalamazoo’s affordable housing program enjoy affordable homes coupled with personal support for maintaining employment and stability. The cost is affordable to workers earning minimum wage. 

 

“The need for lower cost housing for working families facing homelessness is intense,” Stravers says.