For people navigating homelessness or living paycheck to paycheck, an affordable place to live can be the difference between simply getting by and having a chance to build something more stable.
That’s the promise behind Shea Ravines, a new 56-unit affordable housing community in Wyoming that officially opened Sept. 22. Located next to Cherry Health’s Wyoming Community Health Center, the development brings much-needed housing to a region where the cost of a home has increasingly put stability out of reach for many residents.
The $18.6 million first phase includes 40 one-bedroom and 16 two-bedroom apartments for individuals, families and seniors earning between 30% and 80% of the area median income. Rents range from $507 to $1,380.
Twenty of the apartments are designated as permanent supportive housing for people transitioning out of homelessness. Those residents will receive rental assistance through the Grand Rapids Housing Commission, while Grand Rapids-based Community Rebuilders will coordinate supportive services designed to help residents move toward greater stability and self-sufficiency.
The project is also an example of what it takes to create affordable housing in today’s market: a substantial public investment, nonprofit partnerships and multiple layers of financing coming together to make construction possible.
Housing takes more than a building Shea Ravines was developed through a partnership between Cherry Health and Woda Cooper Companies, but its financing reflects a much broader community effort.
The Michigan State Housing Development Authority allocated housing tax credits to help finance the project. The Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis contributed a $1 million Affordable Housing Program grant. Independent Bank provided tax credit equity and sponsored the Affordable Housing Program application, while Marble Cliff Capital served as the tax credit equity investor.
In other words, the apartments aren’t simply the result of a private developer deciding to build. Public resources and housing subsidies are helping make rents affordable for households that otherwise might not be able to afford newly constructed housing.
That distinction matters at a time when construction costs, land prices and market rents can make it difficult to produce housing affordable to people with the lowest incomes.
The first phase is only part of the vision. A second 56-unit phase is under construction and is expected to be completed in spring 2027, bringing the total community to 112 affordable homes.
A connection to health
For Cherry Health President and CEO Tasha Blackmon, whose remarks at the opening ceremony underscored the connection between housing and health, Shea Ravines represents an expansion of the organization’s work beyond the walls of a clinic.
Stable housing is closely tied to a person’s ability to manage other parts of life, from accessing health care to maintaining employment and caring for family. For the residents of Shea Ravines, having a health center next door adds another layer of accessibility.
The community is named for former Cherry Health CEO Chris Shea, recognizing his years of service to the organization.
But while the name reflects Cherry Health’s history, the significance of the project is rooted in the people who will live there: people who need an affordable home, and in some cases, a place to begin again after experiencing homelessness.
Building toward more options
West Michigan’s housing shortage is not a problem that one development can solve. Shea Ravines won’t erase the gap between household incomes and housing costs, nor will 112 apartments meet the region’s broader need for affordable homes.
It is, however, a tangible addition to the local housing supply—and an example of how government subsidies, financial institutions, nonprofit organizations, health care providers and housing developers can work together on a problem that affects far more than the housing market.
For residents moving into Shea Ravines, the result is much simpler: a door that opens to an apartment they can afford, with services and health care close at hand.
And for a community searching for ways to address its affordable housing shortage, that’s one more step in the right direction.
