The Community Foundation’s vision to build a vibrant community with great opportunities for all serves as the basis for our values: hope and opportunity, particularly for youth; collaborative community goals and decision-making; and an inclusive community.

In the fall of 2023, the Community Foundation, collaborating with local municipalities and economic development agencies, commissioned a study on Muskegon County’s current needs and opportunities. The study revealed that Muskegon County needs 9,000 housing and rental units across the housing continuum over the next five years to meet demand and stabilize the local housing market. You can read the full results of the study HERE.

To help increase the availability, accessibility, and affordability of housing, the Community Foundation has committed at least $1M in grants and up to $5M in loans to support local housing efforts.

Nonprofit organizations, including schools, governmental units, and faith-based organizations, must initiate grant requests. Strategies may include for-profit partners and collaborators.

Priority for grants will be given to suggested projects such as:

• First-time homeowners’ assistance, including home-ownership education
• Developer incentives with a focus on workforce housing (180% AMI)
• Explore options to preserve affordability, such as the creation of a Land Trust
• Work with current landlords to facilitate a transition to homeownership for tenants in good standing
• Work with municipalities to incentivize implementation of zoning best practices and tools to incentivize development
• Invest in supporting seniors in a transition to their next phase of housing 

Priority will be given to communities with leadership actively participating in county-wide housing discussions.

In addition, the Community Foundation is working collaboratively with leadership from the City of Muskegon Heights as a geographic focus area for investment in publicly owned lands. Grants and loans will be made to projects that meet at least one of the following:

• Purchase and remediate public land and/or blighted properties to prep for development
• Create development packages around publicly owned land in Muskegon Heights to incentivize development
• Support home improvements for neighboring properties
• Support for community listening sessions to create a shared vision around public land development for housing

Loan requests or Program Related Investments (PRIs) can be initiated by qualified nonprofit organizations and businesses, providing the investment increases housing availability, accessibility, and affordability. Learn more about the loan program here.
Priority for loans will be given to the following projects:

• Nonprofit housing projects
• Homebuyer loan guarantees
• Partnerships with developers or banks to incentivize development and home ownership

At least $1,000,000 will be granted over the next few years. We envision that multiple grants will be supported in the $20,000-$50,000 range. Multiyear requests, with phased-out funding over three years, will be considered. In addition, up to $5,000,000 will be available for loans.

Priority will be given to projects that:

• Create or utilize local partnerships and utilize grassroots efforts to increase collaboration
• Demonstrate in-kind and financial support from other sources
• Leveraging and utilizing existing community assets, as well as local, state, and federal resources available for housing efforts
• Have the potential to continue beyond the life of the grant

• Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis while funds are available
• Both grant and loan applications require a letter of intent (submitted via the online application), followed by an invitation-only application for projects that align with the priorities stated in this call for proposals. Community Foundation staff may request a meeting before welcoming an application
• Most grant applicants will have a decision within three months of submission
• Loan applications require approval of the Community Foundation’s Distribution and Investment Committees, as well as the full board, and thus processing time may be up to four months

The application process is designed to be collaborative, and successful applicants should have conversations with the Community Foundation and other community partners before submitting an application of intent. Please reach out to communityinvestment@muskegonfoundation.org.

Start the application process HERE. 

Strategic grantmaking is a way to achieve a measurable impact. When requesting grant funds, be mindful of how you plan to measure the outcome you are addressing, specifically increasing the availability, accessibility, and affordability of housing.

Grant decisions will be made by Community Foundation staff with oversight from the Distribution Committee, a committee of board and community members. Loan requests will be reviewed by both our Distribution Committee and Investment Committee. The Community Foundation’s Board of Trustees will make final grant and loan decisions.

Please contact the Community Foundation’s community investment department at 231-722-4538 or communityinvestment@muskegonfoundation.org.