AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Zion Affordable Housing Newsletter

Weekly Update for 10-17-25

There were some interesting happenings this week relevant to Zion's Affordable Housing Project. Bonnie attended a "Pulling Together" event focused on community change training sponsored by NeighborWorks Green Bay and Neighborhood Partners. Thank you to Julie Filapek for her efforts to make this event as amazing as it was, including a dinner of many soups! Thank you to First Congregational United Church of Christ for hosting this event in their beautiful space!

In addition to hearing authors of Pulling Together: A Handbook for Community Change, Tom Mosgaller and Mike Breininger, along with Jeff Yost, President and CEO of Nebraska Community Foundation, we also engaged in some activities that were designed to foster the very connections we all need to make our projects happen.

After the event, Lu Sheer, Housing Grant Specialist from Winnebago County, connected Bonnie with Todd Mandel, the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Partnership for Housing Development. Per Lu, he and his organization are leaders in creating innovative, safe, and affordable housing opportunities for Wisconsin families. Todd asked if Lu knew any faith-based organizations that might have property to be used for affordable housing and she thought of Zion. It'll be interesting to see where this new connection can take us!

Also this week was the meeting for the Affordable Housing Lever from the Churches United in Care (CUIC) summit which was almost a year ago. Our lever continues to seek to differentiate itself from the other levers so as to avoid duplication of work and to define more clearly what the specific focus of this lever will be. Our current focus is the creation of a brochure for churches to help them know what work is already being done, where needs lie, and offer connections and opportunities for faith communities to join in the efforts to ameliorate the housing issues in the Fox Valley.

Bonnie also discovered another resource through Strong Towns which is a weekly Zoom call entitled "Ask Strong Towns Anything" which included both spontaneous discussion and answering questions that had been submitted. A plethora of interesting and helpful articles were dropped in the chat on this Zoom call and Bonnie is working her way through all of this new information. More to come!

Weekly Update for 10-3-25

Yesterday, some members of the Zion Real Estate Committee, along with Bonnie and Carrie Sanders from Hope Community Capital, met via Zoom with one of the developers who submitted a proposal for the Zion Affordable Housing Project and his team which included his architect, builder, and urban planner. We went over questions related to their proposed plans, how they intended to fund the work, and clarified some of Zion's desires for the project. It was agreed that Bonnie would forward them the floor plans that were generated by Boldt several years ago as we're hoping they'll include the schools in their new proposal which should be submitted around Thanksgiving.

There is also another developer who came to the table late, but the Real Estate Committee is considering in order to have several options to go over. This particular developer is asking for a tour of the property so Carrie will reach out to Wendy Sachs who will likely be the person touring him on the property.

After last week's Update, one of you reached out and asked who the members of the Real Estate Committee were, so here's the wonderful folks who have volunteered their precious time and energy to contribute to this housing effort: Wendy Sachs, Kandie Wilz, Gary Neumann, Sue Bunkert, Gwen Schwandt, Ray Pittman, Molly Kuba, Amanda Kuba, Kyle Moseng, Brianne Connelly, and Tommy Meltz. If you see any of these individuals, please thank them for their willingness to help move this project forward!

Weekly Update for 9-26-25

The Zion Real Estate Committee met on September 24th to review the proposals received and invite developers to present to the committee on their proposals. Their recommendations will then be sent to the Zion Church Council and then to the congregation for a vote.

Two proposals were in hand and another developer had thrown his hat in the ring at the last minute. That final developer did not provide the information necessary to consider his proposal with the other two so a decision was made for Carrie Sanders, consultant to Zion, to reach out to him with further questions.

Of the two proposals received, one was determined to not align closely enough with Zion's mission and vision and was declined. The other proposal was by far the most complete and innovative, aligning more fully with Zion's mission and vision. Bonnie has reached out to that developer to invite him to present his proposal to the Committee via Zoom next week and answer the Committee's questions that have been forwarded to him. Bonnie is waiting to hear back from him.

Weekly Update for 9-19-25

The official deadline for the Request For Proposals (RFP) for the Zion Affordable Housing Project has passed. A decision was made to allow one additional developer a bit of extra time to submit his proposal, which should happen today sometime.

The Zion Real Estate Committee will be meeting on September 24th to review the proposals received and invite developers to present to the committee on their proposals. Their recommendations will be sent to the Zion Church Council and then to the congregation for a vote.

That's it for this week's update. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact Bonnie.

P.S. I am currently dealing with some significant health concerns for my Dad so am less available than is typical. If you need more immediate attention, please text me as opposed to emailing as I will get it sooner. Thanks for your understanding.

Weekly Update for 9-5-25

This week was, again, more focused on housing activities outside of the Zion Project, and these offer powerful context within which to view the Project as Zion moves closer to the end date for submissions for their Request for Proposals which is September 10th.

Kristine Giornalista, consultant to the Fox Cities Housing Alliance, presented to the Fox Cities Housing Coalition this week and, although Bonnie couldn't be present for the Zoom, Kristine did email out her presentation after the meeting. The Housing Alliance is moving forward with the creation of four Teams designed to align with the Alliance's Vision ("We envision a Fox Cities where everyone has a home that supports their wellbeing and reflects their personal choices") and Mission ("We unite a broad range of stakeholders to ignite change, shape policy and accelerate housing solutions tailored to the Fox Cities"). The four Teams are: Data Team, Community Education & Engagement Team, Improving Regulation Team, and New Financing Tools Team. Bonnie will be a part of the Financing Tools Team which is scheduling their first meeting shortly.

There are two main focal points for the start of the Alliance's work: Entry Level Homebuyers which includes first-time home buyers and buyers in the bottom third of the housing market and Older Adult Homeowners who make up a significant share of cost-burdened (paying more than 1/3 of income for housing) homeowners due to rising costs of insurance, property taxes and utilities yet have limited ability to downsize due to a paucity of appropriate homes to suit their changing needs and an unwillingness to sell their homes that are either paid off or have low mortgage rates to buy a smaller home and incur a higher mortgage.

Some interesting statistics shared included data showing many potential home buyers are being priced out of the market. In 2022, the median single family home was priced at $263,825; in 2025, that figure has risen to $305,500. A first-time home buyer needs at least $100,000 annual income to afford payments on a median-priced home in Appleton. There has been a 18% drop in first-time homebuyer loans compared to 2019.

Clearly the need is there for the kind of work the Alliance is preparing to do!

This week also saw the announcement of an upcoming event in October, Pulling Together: Voluntary Associations in the Fox Cities, being organized by Neighborhood Partners, a program of NeighborWorks Green Bay. This is a learning opportunity around how people can work together to create the change they want to see in their community. This event is focused on supporting the learning of volunteers from neighborhood groups, service clubs, culture/identity groups, civic groups, etc. Two members from each organization are strongly encouraged to register together. Bonnie has submitted an application for attendance as a representative of the Appleton Town Makers group and invited a fellow Town Maker to be that second person to attend. To learn more about this event and whether your organization is appropriate for this event, please contact Julie Filapek at julief@nwgreenbay.org.

Weekly Update for 8-29-25

Several interesting things came up this week! Strong Towns, which sponsors Appleton's Town Makers group, which is designed to support small and mid-sized developers in creating projects for housing and commercial businesses that lead to more robust cities, is going on Tour! Strong Towns will be traveling to some of the cities and towns which are working their program to raise the profile of this process and bring greater awareness to this work. Their motto is, "When Strong Towns comes to a community, something happens". We've applied to be one of those communities and hopefully we'll be selected for this honor. Stay tuned!

Another wonderful happening in the world of Appleton housing that was announced was the bequeathing of 10 properties to Pillars by Richard Reetz. To quote the announcement,

"This is the largest single addition to Pillars’ property portfolio, increasing it by 26%. This donation aligns with the organization’s strategy to relieve program bottlenecks and keep people out of shelter and in stable housing.

Reetz was a lifelong Appleton resident and landlord for over 50 years. His passion for this community could be attributed to his Depression-Era upbringing and the core values instilled in him by his parents.

Reetz’ motivation as a landlord was to invest in his tenants who were often people trying to find a place to land on their feet. His relationships were built on a handshake and trust. He was the epitome of professionalism and fairness up until the very end of his life.

“Dick gave people a chance when others would not,” said Reetz’ stepson Joe Frank. “He cared about his tenants’ stories and wanted to help get them on their feet. He had a genuine interest in people.”

Pillars’ Executive Director Lisa Strandberg said, “Pillars is very proud to carry on Richard’s legacy of providing housing to those who need it at an affordable level.”

Toward the end of his life, Reetz was approached by developers looking to purchase his properties but that was never the outcome he wanted. Frank explained, “Donating these units to Pillars was the only solution he had in his heart…The last thing he wanted was to displace people.”

Pillars will integrate the properties with a mindful approach to current tenants’ unique situations.

“This transformative gift expands Pillars’ reach in a meaningful way, helping to serve more individuals and families working toward stability and a place to call home,” said Steve Williams, Board President of Pillars."

Hopefully this will encourage others to consider bequeathing property in ways that benefit those in need of housing. This could certainly include some faith communities as well as individuals.

Also of note this week is the City of Appleton's release of the draft of the new Comprehensive Plan showcased at an Open House yesterday at the new Mary Beth Nienhaus Activity Center. City planners and officials shared information on the draft of the Plan and had stations set up for the public to comment on. If you were unable to be at the open house, here's the link to check out some aspects of the draft: https://appleton-comprehensive-plan-appleton.hub.arcgis.com/pages/plan-progress Definitely check out the appendices as there are some interesting drawings of potential options for developing infill projects in particular.

Some of the interesting statistics they shared:

* In Appleton, roughly 1 in 3 rentals are unaffordable as are 1 in 10 ownership units (single family homes, condos, etc.)

*Appleton is projected to need 6800 housing units over the next four years for young professionals, empty nesters, and everyone in between.

* In Appleton in 2023, there were 30,860 households. Of these, 30% were people living alone and 12% were seniors living alone.

City officials indicated there will be an opportunity for those who didn't get to attend last night to offer their opinions on the Plan by completing a questionnaire that will be added to the City website some time today.

Weekly Update for 8-22-25

This was a quieter week which was welcome because there were a lot of follow-ups to do! A few of the developers considering submitting proposals had further questions which required some clarification from Zion leadership and Carrie Sanders, Hope Community Capital. Today Carrie and Bonnie had a phone call with one of the interested developers to further clarify the scope of the potential project and answer his questions about what Zion envisions for the property. Zion is looking forward to seeing the proposals submitted by the September 10th closing date!

One of the most important things to report this week is the City of Appleton's release of the draft of the new Comprehensive Plan and an invitation to an Open House on same for Thursday, August 28th, at either 4 pm or 5 pm. Here's the link so you can preview the invitation and the potential Plan: https://www.planappleton.org/ The actual plan can be seen by scrolling down on the invitation page to where it says "View Plan". Here's hoping a lot of us can be present and offer our feedback on the Plan, particularly as it relates to Zion Lutheran's plan for Affordable Housing being able to move forward.

Also this week there was a Real Estate Committee meeting for the Affordable Housing Project at Zion which was very helpful in terms of clarifying roles and reviewing the current submissions received for the Request for Proposals for Affordable Housing Projects utilizing Zion's property. Slightly less than 3 weeks until proposals are due!

Weekly Update for 8-15-25

This has been a busy week! Vicar Jake, Wendy Sachs and Bonnie conducted an additional tour with a local small developer on Monday. This is the final week of tours prior to our September 10th deadline for the submission of proposals for developing some or all of the Zion campus. Proposals that prioritize Zion's mission and vision are being strongly encouraged. Again, Zion may potentially select several proposals if they are for different sections of the campus and fit together with each other and with Zion's mission and vision.

Wednesday began the 2nd annual round of monthly Town Makers meetings, sponsored by AARP and Strong Towns, to cultivate small developers who will fill in the gaps in the current developer pool. These small developers are mainly focusing on infill projects, missing middle housing, and the like. Many thanks to Rick Carpenter from the Appleton Redevelopment Authority and Josh Lambrecht, local alderperson, for attending our meeting! Brian Rasmussen shared information on both a prototype project for a four-unit new build in Appleton and on Michigan's Municipal League which has created pre-approved plans for buildings that accommodate current building codes which are designed to streamline the process of building homes. We're hoping to have them present to our group on their process so that we may replicate it in some way in Wisconsin. Perhaps Appleton could be a forerunner in this movement...who knows? We also had updates on current projects, including Zion's, and look forward to moving these projects forward this year. Anyone interested in joining our meetings can reach out to Jennifer Stephany, Executive Director of Appleton Downtown, who hosts these events, at jennifer@appletondowntown.org.

Bonnie also contacted Lindsey Smith, Principal Planner for the City of Appleton, with some questions on set-back requirements and the draft of the new Comprehensive Plan that Appleton uses to guide decisions about many aspects of local government, including housing. Lindsey responded with the rationale behind set-back requirements (contact Bonnie if you'd be interested in this information) and stated that the draft of the Comprehensive Plan should be available on the City's website as of a week from today. Also, the City will be hosting an open house event on August 28th for public feedback on the draft plan so mark your calendars and Bonnie has asked for the time and location for this meeting.

Weekly Update for 8-8-25

We're continuing to do tours with smaller developers who are interested in the Zion Affordable Housing Project and potentially submitting a proposal for developing some or all of the Zion campus that's available for development. Vicar Jake is scheduled to tour another small local developer today and one small developer who has toured previously has requested an additional tour which will be conducted next Monday.

The closing date for submission of proposals is September 10th so we will see how many proposals are received by the deadline. Again, Zion may potentially select several proposals if they are for different sections of the campus and fit together with each other and with Zion's mission and vision.

Next Wednesday starts the 2nd annual round of Town Makers meetings, sponsored by AARP and Strong Towns, to cultivate small developers who will fill in the gaps in the current developer pool. These small developers are mainly focusing on infill projects, missing middle housing, and the like. We're hoping in our 2nd year to bring some new projects across the finish line, at least in terms of planning and contracting, including the Long Chen addition, a pocket neighborhood or two, and the Zion Project. Any interested person can attend these free meetings held downtown at the offices of Downtown Appleton, Ste. 100 in the Paper Valley Hotel at 5:30 pm.

Bonnie also attended the monthly Zoom meeting, hosted by Harriet Redman, for parents/caregivers/agencies involved with adults with disabilities. Much of the conversation centered around housing issues and the dire need for more options for loved ones with disabilities. Susan Garcia Franz was encouraging those present to tell their stories to legislators who make the decisions about funding services and projects vital to the quality of life for people with disabilities. She's also hoping to possibly video people telling their stories so the recordings can be used to make the case for more support, including housing options.

Weekly Update for 8-1-25

We've gotten a few comments recently following the hard copy mailing of the 2024 Annual Report of the Community Foundation of the Fox Valley Region which featured Vicar Jake Czarnik-Neimeyer and Bonnie outside of Zion Lutheran Church talking about the affordable housing project as the Community Foundation was instrumental in funding our early efforts to get the ball rolling on this project. There should be a digital version of the report coming out soon and we'll put the link in an upcoming Weekly Update for all of you to read. We appreciated being featured in the report because the more press, the better as we are awaiting replies to our Request for Proposals.

The Request for Proposals (RFP) for developing the Zion campus has been eliciting some responses from area developers. Vicar Jake toured a small local developer this week and there's another small local developer who is looking to schedule a tour as well. An additional developer did reply after some initial interest that their schedule was too full to consider adding another project. Win some, lose some!

Weekly Update for 7-18-25

CUE THE HAPPY DANCE! The Request for Proposals (RFP) has been sent out to area developers, large and small, asking for their proposals for the development of the Zion campus, along with folks who have relationships with developers and can partner on such a project. There are roughly 70 recipients who received the RFP email and we've begun to receive some calls and emails in return with questions so we are off to a great start!

This week Bonnie met via Zoom with the Zion Real Estate Committee to share the final version of the RFP and answer questions. It was a great meeting marked by collaboration, discernment, and enthusiasm as we move things forward.

It was also a solid week for moving things forward on other fronts related to affordable housing, including a Zoom meeting with the Fox Valley Housing Coalition, contact with several people including Paul Nulton and Julie Filapek regarding the affordable housing lever arising out of last Fall's faith-based housing summit, and other such contacts.

Weekly Update for 7-11-25

This week's big news is the Request for Proposals (RFP) has been handed over to Zion Council for final approval, then Bonnie will be sending it out to area developers, large and small, asking for their proposals for the development of the Zion campus. There are roughly 50 recipients lined up for the RFP email, including some individuals adjacent to developers who might have ideas for sharing the RFP with developers currently not on our list. Developers will have 8 weeks to respond if they wish to submit for all or part of the Zion property that's available for development.

Developers will be able to tour the campus prior to submitting, if desired, by contacting Bonnie to set up a date and time. There will be a week set aside for presentations from interested developers to Zion leadership on their proposals and a week of discernment time for Zion before responding to those proposals. Send up some prayers for several good proposals coming our way!

This week Bonnie met with both Vicar Jake and Kandie Wilz to make sure everyone was on the same page with regard to the affordable housing project. Bonnie also attended the final round of the first year of Town Makers, sponsored by AARP Wisconsin and Strong Towns.

Weekly Update for 6-20-25

Apologies for missing last week; somewhere in there the whole week disappeared! The rough draft of the Request for Proposals (RFP) has been handed over to Zion for approval, then Bonnie will need to create the timeline for that prior to sending it out to area developers, large and small, asking for their proposals for the development of the Zion campus.

Many thanks to Paul Nulton for being willing to present the update for the Affordable Housing lever led by the Churches United in Care (CUIC) as neither Bonnie nor Noel Halvorsen from NeighborWorks Green Bay were able to make the meeting on June 10th due to other commitments. Paul also expressed a willingness to assist in developing some funding for administrative support for our lever as neither Bonnie nor Noel have bandwidth to cover administrative tasks as well as the lever work itself. We will be scheduling upcoming Zoom calls with those churches who expressed interest in being a part of the work developing affordable housing through faith-based efforts and a second meeting with churches that weren't able to be at the Housing Summit last Fall, but are interested in participating. We will be looking for those members/churches willing to step into Leadership roles with this work and then will be focusing on education aimed at equipping member churches to develop the unique opportunities faith-based communities have in serving the people most negatively impacted by the housing crisis.

The Fox Cities Housing Coalition did a free presentation on June 16th at the Appleton Public Library from 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm on homelessness and housing issues in our area. Gary Neumann and Vicar Jake Czarnik-Neimeyer from Zion Lutheran attended the Housing Coalition on Monday to hear a presentation about the housing needs in the Fox Valley and some ways they can be addressed. The well-attended presentation highlighted some of the challenges faced to provide more affordable housing, including zoning in the city of Appleton and the need for new construction that promotes community and more units on limited available land in the city of Appleton. Statistics were available about housing costs and projects in other cities in the Fox Valley. There was mention about Zion's effort to possibly provide affordable housing on their campus. The session ended with time for questions and answers at the end of the presentation.

That's it for this week's update. There may or may not be an update next week as Bonnie leaves for Iceland on Thursday and will return July 3rd, so things may be quiet for several weeks.

Weekly Update for 6-6-25

This was a quieter week for the Zion Affordable Housing Project. Bonnie has been working on the revamp of the Request for Proposals (RFP) to be approved by the Zion Real Estate Committee and then sent out to area developers, large and small, asking for their proposals for the development of the Zion campus. Bonnie and Kandie are slated to meet tomorrow to put some finishing touches on the proposal.

Noel Halvorsen from NeighborWorks Green Bay and Bonnie discussed next steps forward for their "Lever" for Affordable Housing coming out of last Fall's Faith Communities Housing Summit sponsored by Churches United in Care (CUIC). We will be scheduling upcoming Zoom calls with those churches who expressed interest in being a part of the work developing affordable housing through faith-based efforts and a second meeting with churches that weren't able to be at the Housing Summit last Fall, but are interested in participating. We will be looking for those members/churches willing to step into Leadership roles with this work and then will be focusing on education aimed at equipping member churches to develop the unique opportunities faith-based communities have in serving the people most negatively impacted by the housing crisis. Noel and Bonnie want to thank in advance Paul Nulton for being willing to present their update to the CUIC as they are unable to make the meeting on June 10th due to other commitments.

Yesterday, Bonnie attended the monthly Zoom meeting of parents of adults with disabilities hosted by WisconSibs founder, Harriet Redman. Bonnie was invited to give an update on the Zion Affordable Housing Project and talked about the Project Thrive proposal and some of the difficulties related to creating affordable housing, including Appleton's parking requirements and setback requirements. Bonnie encouraged parents to become more vocal with regard to the needs of their adult children with disabilities and Harriet also talked about the invisibility of this population of their loved ones and needing to raise the awareness around their issues. Bonnie also mentioned the overrepresentation of people with disabilities among Appleton's population of people experiencing homelessness. The consequences of this cohort's invisibility can be dire.

To that end, Fox Cities Housing Coalition will be offering a free presentation on June 16th at the Appleton Public Library from 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm on homelessness and housing issues in our area. If you've never heard their presentation, of which the Zion Project is a part, Bonnie would highly recommend it! (The pdf with the invitation is too large to include in this Update, so please email Bonnie if you'd like it sent to you directly).