The Michigan Affordable Housing Community Action Plan: A Five-Year Action Plan for Affordable Housing, Community Development, and Homelessness (Action Plan) was unveiled at the Michigan Affordable Housing Conference in early June, 2006. The goal of the Action Plan is to provide a common vision and voice for affordable housing advocates, funders, practitioners and recipients.

The planning phase was a participatory process to create the action plan. Ten workgroups were created to discuss current policies and programs, review existing research, and identify the primary challenges facing the affordable housing community in Michigan. The workgroups were Aging in Place, Ending Homelessness, Homeownership, Land Use, Multifamily Housing, Neighborhood Revitalization & Community Development, Preservation, Public Awareness, Supportive Housing, and Voucher Strategies. Workgroup participants were comprised of affordable housing community partners and MSHDA staff.

The workgroups developed a set of recommendations around their specific issue areas. A subset of recommendations was developed as priorities for action, to be implemented over a five-year period. We are now in the second phase - implementation. The priorities for action have been grouped under five principal implementation workgroups: Community Development & Neighborhood Revitalization, Homeownership, Land Use, Rental (which includes Aging in Place and Preservation), and Supportive Housing (which includes Voucher Strategies). Ending Homelessness will continue on a separate but parallel implementation process through the Campaign to End Homelessness.

MSHDA took the lead in the implementation phase by convening an external advisory group, the implementation workgroups and by staffing a core group who will provide coordination and support to the workgroups (see Implementation Flow Chart ). In late September, 2006 letters were sent to the industry trade groups requesting a representative for the implementation workgroups. These external representatives along with a MSHDA chairperson comprise the Executive Group for each implementation workgroup. The first meetings of the Executive Groups occurred in November and December of 2006.

The Executive Groups determined the priorities from the workgroup recommendations, what subcommittees were needed to implement the first year priorities (calendar year 2007) and increased capacity by adding additional workgroup members as needed.

This Web site is intended to keep you updated on the progress of the implementation workgroups over the next year. As was true during the planning phase, the implementation phase will carry forward the common vision; the vision that collectively we, the affordable housing community, can maximize our potential to improve the lives of those Michigan citizens who have the fewest housing options.