Frey Foundation and Rotary Charities of Traverse City have formed a new partnership to address the workforce housing shortage in Northwest Michigan. 

The two CMF members are part of the Northwest Michigan Rural Housing Partnership (NMRHP), a diverse group of public, private and nonprofit stakeholders in Northwest Michigan and incubated by Networks Northwest.

The partnership will take a three-pronged approach to addressing housing issues: addressing communication and education needs, advocating for housing solutions and providing technical assistance for specific projects. They say they will approach their work with an understanding that housing shortages exist at all levels in the partnership’s 10-county service area of Antrim, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Benzie, Manistee, Charlevoix, Emmet, Missaukee and Wexford counties.

The partnership shares that addressing the region’s housing shortages requires a multi-channel process.

“New development is a complex process that requires financial resources, proper zoning, public support, developers, and local government participation in order to be successful,” Sarah Lucas, executive director of the partnership said. “In the past, there hasn’t been an effective way to align all these forces. Now we have the capacity to take action. We’re so grateful to Rotary, Frey and Networks Northwest for their support of this concept and are thrilled to be able to help move it forward.”