History Page

In 1980, downtown Grand Rapids was a far different place. The magnificent restoration of the Pantlind Hotel into the Amway Grand Plaza had been completed. Other major construction projects were underway. Both fueled real estate speculation and caused apprehension that our downtown neighbors, primarily low-income individuals and families at that time, might be pushed out of the neighborhood: displaced by gentrification.

At the same time, the number of individuals living on our downtown streets was growing; a partial consequence of the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill in Michigan. To address these growing concerns, seven churches and several organizations came together to establish a non-profit organization to provide affordable housing and vital support services for individuals and families. This new entity was incorporated in 1980 as Dwelling Place.

While the story of Dwelling Place is unique to Grand Rapids, nonprofit groups similar to Dwelling Place are present in many communities across the United States. These specialized nonprofit organizations are also referred to as community development corporations (CDC’s) for the mission driven work they do to improve the quality of life in communities and neighborhoods.

The stock-in-trade of CDC’s is almost always housing and economic development aimed at creating better neighborhoods. The real impact, however, is always on people. Today, Dwelling Place owns and manages more than 1,000 apartments and homes in 21 housing communities throughout West Michigan, serving households with a wide variety of incomes and backgrounds.

Today, Dwelling Place also provides critical support services to some 350 residents facing the enormous challenges surrounding homelessness as well as business related support services for artists in live work spaces and a wide variety of other commercial tenants. Today, with nearly 40 office and retail commercial spaces and more than 40 live/work spaces, Dwelling Place continues to serve as a catalyst in the growth and revitalization efforts of neighborhoods.

Many things have changed in 30 years. What has not changed is the commitment by Dwelling Place to shape a community vision that embraces the many benefits of development while at the same time finding new ways to integrate all downtown neighbors into that community vision.