Skip to main content

Battle Creek teachers are utilizing the teacher housing incentives, supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation

We’re getting a first look at the impact a teacher housing incentive grant is having in Battle Creek.

Content excerpted and adapted from a Battle Creek Enquirer article. Read the full article.

We’re getting a first look at the impact a teacher housing incentive grant is having in Battle Creek.

In 2017, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) awarded a grant to the city of Battle Creek that included $750,000 to support housing incentives for Battle Creek Public Schools (BCPS) teachers.

As the Battle Creek Enquirer reported at the time, more than 40 percent of BCPS teachers lived outside of the district and only 16 percent of its administration lived within the city of Battle Creek.

The housing incentives program is designed to attract teachers to live in neighborhoods within the district, providing up to 20 percent of a home's value — or a maximum of $10,000 — for down payment assistance, closing costs or for mortgage buy-downs to reduce monthly mortgage expenses.

The program also provides an incentive of up to $10,000 in matching funds to teachers and administrators buying homes and for those already living in the district who want to make improvements to their existing homes.

The city says the program is working.

So far, seven teachers have received down payment assistance and two other teachers have received assistance to renovate their homes.

About 18 teachers and administrators have applied to purchase or renovate a home.

"It's going great," Chris Lussier, the city's community development manager told the Battle Creek Enquirer. "The goal was to create meaningful incentives for Battle Creek teachers and I think we've done that. We've got a lot of teachers that are taking advantage of this program and it's also successfully attracting teachers to buy and, in some cases, to renovate homes in Battle Creek neighborhoods.”

The Download

X