AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Zion Affordable Housing Newsletter

Weekly Update for 3-7-25

You are invited to Zion's rescheduled Roundtable meeting on Tuesday, March 11th, from 4:30-6 pm in the Fellowship Hall at Zion. All are welcome to learn about the current status of potential development at Zion Lutheran and efforts that continue with regard to affordable housing.

This week Bonnie attended the Introduction to Advocacy for Affordable Housing training offered by the Fox Cities Housing Coalition and the Wisconsin Council of Churches. Rev. Brianna Ile'ne' from Wisconsin Council of Churches, Susan Garcia-Franz from Winnebago County Public Health, and Richard Dodge from First United Methodist Church presented on ways to advocate for affordable housing with various governmental entities. This included an overview of federal, state, and local government and the entities within each that impact housing in our state. We also learned how a bill becomes a law. Takeaways for Bonnie were the "Enabling Better Places" report, subtitled "A User's Guide to Wisconsin Neighborhood Affordability" which contained a lot of useful information, especially about needed code reform which is likely to be discussed at the upcoming Listening Session at the Appleton Library on Tuesday, March 18th (see below). The speakers were also advocating for support for the Wisconsin Opportunity Act which fights against poverty and creates renewed investment in housing, transportation, employment, and business development among other things.

Regarding the "Enabling Better Places" document, Bonnie is passing along the following examples of code changes that would benefit affordable housing development:

1. Allowing multi-unit housing as permitted uses in single-family zoned districts which have historically included two-family and multi-family buildings.

2. Realigning lot widths and areas to match historic patterns which favored narrower lots.

3. Reducing setbacks to historic distances to allow greater use of existing lots.

4. Allowing accessory dwelling units (ADU's) by right for all single-family zoning districts.

5. Permitting residential uses within downtown and main street zoning districts.

6. Permitting residential uses, including multi-family, in commercial districts.

7. Managing residential density with building types not units per acre in each district.

8. Reducing or eliminating parking minimums.

9. Assessing and streamlining the subdivision and workforce housing application process, including standards that direct development outcomes and a time limit on municipal response.

Some of these changes have already been implemented by the City of Appleton, but others warrant modification yet. To learn more about these changes, click here.

Today, Bonnie met with Wendy Harris from NEW Mental Health Connection to learn more about a new initiative on social connectedness across the tri-county region of Calumet, Outagamie, and Winnebago counties. This initiative, which Bonnie has been invited to join, is bringing together a diverse group of community leaders who work with communities disproportionately impacted by disconnection and isolation, including older people, LGBTQ, BIPOC, immigrant, people with disabilities, and others to hear from these communities on what is needed to improve social connectedness at individual, community, and systemic levels. The result will be a report detailing recommended actions to improve social connectedness, which will include housing initiatives, to be disseminated to local nonprofits, health systems, schools, funding organizations, and other stakeholders, providing a map for future projects and sustaining and expanding existing efforts.

Plan Appleton Update Meeting on Tuesday, March 18th at the newly reopened Appleton Public Library beginning at 4 pm. This will be a chance for the City to share what they've learned thus far from their previous listening sessions about desired changes to the City of Appleton Comprehensive Plan and taking a deeper dive into opportunities including affordable housing. Presentations will be given at 4, 5, and 6 pm followed by activities designed to learn more from us as to what's wanted and needed in Appleton. You can learn more about the Plan and this event at www.planappleton.org.

Weekly Update for 2-21-25

This was a pretty quiet week in terms of activities in the housing realm. Bonnie did attend the Fox Cities Housing Coalition's meeting on Wednesday and learned about HeadsUp, presented by their program director, Jennie Micke. HeadsUp is a program to support youth aged 16-24 as they age out of the fostercare system. Just a few stats to give you a sense of the dire circumstances these kids face: 20% end up homeless when they age out of the fostercare system, 70% of former fostercare females are pregnant before age 21 (clearly a highly vulnerable population), and housing remains one of the toughest needs to fill for this group of humans. Pillars has collaborated with HeadsUp on a program which can provide housing for up to 12 people aging out of fostercare, which is awesome, but there's still much need.

Bonnie has accepted an invitation to partner with Noel Halvorsen from NeighborWorks Green Bay to launch the Affordable Housing lever for the Faith-Based Housing Summit's ongoing work post-Summit . The gist of this work would be to bring together the faith communities that expressed an interest in housing issues at the Summit and begin work on creating next steps and a collective action plan regarding housing in our area.

ACTION STEP: Bonnie is pursuing more information about this upcoming meeting, but please plan to attend the March 18th meeting at the library to request the city add "cluster housing development" as an option to their Plan as well as other "missing middle" housing options. Thanks in advance!

Also, please tentatively save the date for Zion's rescheduled Roundtable meeting on Tuesday, March 11th, from 4:30-6 pm in the Fellowship Hall at Zion.

Weekly Update for 2-7-25

This week was filled with opportunities to connect with individuals and groups interested in housing issues. Bonnie met with Susan Garcia Franz, Winnebago County Community Health Strategist, to discuss housing and share with her a book Bonnie received from the Strong Towns group entitled Escaping the Housing Trap: The Strong Towns Response to the Housing Crisis written by Charles L. Marohn, Jr. and Daniel Herriges which offers a paradigm shift toward missing middle housing such as building duplexes, triplexes, and Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU's) to meet the overwhelming need for more housing.

Bonnie met via Zoom with the Affordable Housing Subcommittee of the Fox Cities Housing Coalition. The meeting was to share the current status of the Zion Project and Bonnie was asked if there was anything the Subcommittee could do to foster the much-needed housing being built on the Zion campus. Bonnie talked about the Strong Towns work and, at that time, couldn't think of specific action steps the Subcommittee could take on Zion's behalf; however, since that meeting, one opportunity has come to light! (See next paragraph).

Bonnie met via Teams with Colin Kafka, Principal Planner for the City of Appleton. The meeting was to clarify the information she had received from Colin's colleague, Lindsey Smith, another Principal Planner for the City, on Accessory Dwelling Units. Bonnie had been hoping that might be a route Zion could take for building multiple single-family homes densely situated on the open lots Zion owns. Colin educated Bonnie that the ADU's would not be a valid vehicle for accomplishing that goal, but her idea fit more with a "cluster housing development" which currently is not zoning that exists in Appleton's Comprehensive Plan. He indicated that, since the Comprehensive Plan is being updated, now is an ideal time to pursue this change to the Plan such that zoning could be modified to accommodate this type of building model. He also stated that, in addition to modifications to the zoning code, modifications to the building code might also be necessary. I stated that I had read in Escaping the Housing Trap that building codes are often not kept current with innovations to building methods and materials. He agreed and Bonnie offered to send him a copy of the book to read and share with his colleagues. The more people in positions of power who have a newer perspective, the better, so Bonnie will be sure they get a copy.

Bonnie then researched how to offer additional input to the Comprehensive Plan since the listening sessions she attended were several months ago. Interestingly, Lindsey Smith was listed as the contact person in an old email Bonnie found about the previous listening sessions. Following up with Lindsey yielded the following information: "Currently, we have not finalized specifics on housing recommendations for the Comprehensive Plan. The good news is the January 31st deadline was only for the first round of community engagement. We are planning another open house event on March 18th at the Library (Bold and italics are Bonnie's), save the date flyers should be finalized by end of next week to share with the public. At the March open house we will be asking more specific questions for style of housing within in our existing neighborhoods, along corridors, and new subdivisions on the north side."

ACTION STEP: Please plan to attend the March 18th meeting at the library to request the City add "cluster housing development" as an option to their Plan as well as other "missing middle" housing options. Thanks in advance!

Weekly Update for 1-31-25

Bonnie and Kandie met to discuss streamlining their work on the project and preparing for a Zoom meeting with Carrie Sanders from Hope Community Capital. Bonnie feels that because Kandie is a member of Zion and on the Council, she's uniquely positioned to stay on top of decisions that are being made that impact the project. We discussed what we needed from Carrie and what we felt could be accomplished prior to Zion's process of clarifying leadership being completed.

Bonnie and Kandie then participated in a Zoom meeting with Carrie Sanders from Hope Community Capital. The meeting was to clarify some Action Items to be worked on in the coming weeks. Kandie offered some updates on things related to our work, including that the search for a Pastor for Zion had been modified in some positive ways and preparations have been made for Zion's Annual Meeting with the congregation to inform them of current status. We came up with three main areas of focus, all of which will benefit the ongoing efforts to utilize Zion's campus and buildings more effectively. These include modifying the search for a Pastor from a part-time position to full-time, clearing and renting out spaces in the schools temporarily that are not being utilized by AASD, and continuing Carrie's work with Zion.

Weekly Update for 1-24-25

Monday was supposed to be the Roundtable meeting for the project, but the weather was bitter, so we will reschedule at some point. Bonnie is waiting to hear back as to some good dates for rescheduling.

Bonnie joined a Zoom meeting hosted by Harriet Redman with Dave Porterfield, business partner to Carrie Sanders from Hope Community Capital. The meeting was to hear from Dave with regard to building supportive housing as he has been in that field for over 30 years. Dave had read through the Project Thrive proposal and offered his feedback on the proposal. He answered many questions related to building supportive housing and stated he was willing to continue to collaborate with the group as their project moved forward. Harriet indicated to Bonnie after the call that she'd gotten a lot of very positive feedback on how useful that meeting was.

Bonnie also participated in the Partners for Places informational webinar sponsored by The Funders Network on grants for projects focusing on equitable local climate action. This is a collaborative matching network with JPB Foundation, Kresge Foundation, and Pisces Foundation providing the matching funding. This certainly could be a part of the funding mix for projects on the Zion campus, and will require whatever projects Zion decides to pursue to complete an application. This funding opportunity is offered annually.

Bonnie also met this week with Maiyoua Thao from Long Chen, as we're both members of the Town Makers group brought together by the Wisconsin affiliate of AARP in collaboration with Neighborhood Evolutions to participate in a 12 month program created by Strong Towns which is designed to generate small local developers creating housing in their cities. Bonnie and Maiyoua discussed how to bring the group together more effectively such that projects the individual members of Town Makers are working on get support they need to make it across the finish line. It was agreed this topic would be addressed at the next Town Makers meeting on February 12th.

Bonnie also had a phone call with Carrie Sanders from Hope Community Capital with regard to next steps for Zion. Bonnie had requested a separate Zoom with Carrie and Dave to discuss the best next steps for the Zion housing project, separate from the work Carrie is doing with Zion toward mission, vision, and financial planning. We're looking for a date for that meeting, including Kandie Wilz, the new Zion Project Manager.

Weekly Update for 1-17-25

Last Sunday, Zion leadership met with Carrie Sanders, Hope Community Capital to discuss Carrie's findings related to the church and its ongoing efforts to repurpose its property and step more fully into its mission and vision. To that end, a draft of a new vision statement was shared with leadership and feedback sought from leadership on their goals for Zion for the next three years. The categories that emerged included creating a thriving community, offering more outreach and partnership, creating a property and space strategy, doing a deep dive into leadership and staffing issues, and building vision. Carrie asked for feedback on her question, "What is God up to at Zion Lutheran Church?" Six key action items were articulated and the value of scheduling another meeting was acknowledged.

Bonnie continues to pursue connections with those involved in a variety of housing issues in the community. To that end, this week she attended the Housing Coalition meeting via Zoom, had a coffee date with some of the people doing smaller developments in the Appleton area, and a coffee date with a staff member at Pillars who is well-versed in supportive housing to learn more about the potential for that to be a part of what's created on the Zion campus.

Next week will hold some events that hopefully will bring Zion closer to some collaborations utilizing the Zion campus. Bonnie will be working with Project Thrive and WisconSibs on Monday to create a more unified vision of what is desirable with regard to housing for these specific groups and hear from Dave Porterfield, an expert in the supportive housing field. We will also be holding our next Roundtable meeting to bring interested parties up to date on the current status of the Zion project. Bonnie is scheduled to attend the Partners for Places informational webinar on grants next week as well and is hoping to attend the Stronger Together Fox Valley event on Thursday, if possible.

Feel free to email with any questions or comments regarding the Zion project.

UPCOMING MEETINGS:

Tuesday, January 21st, Roundtable Meeting, in person at Zion Lutheran Church in the Fellowship Hall at 4:30-6 pm. Anyone may attend to hear updates on the current status of this work at Zion.