When our family moved to the Fox Valley nine years ago, it was difficult to find affordable housing. We were resided to the fact that we would need to rent for a year before selling our home and buying a home. We looked for apartments and nearly everywhere we went there was a three month or longer wait list. The options were slim, and our future was scary with two young daughters we were uprooting and knowing we may need to move again into a permanent home. Fortunately, both my spouse and I have solid jobs. Another fortunate God-incident happened that we had dear friends who just bought a property with a fixer-upper house on it. We rented it for half a year and were able to purchase the house we now call home. That was our experience, however, for many who are in different financial situations in our community, there isn’t enough affordable low-income housing. The faith communities (UCC, Methodist, Catholic, ELCA, and more) of the Fox Valley are coming together address this issue and make systemic change.
I’m looking for a few CtK people who would be interested in attending the day-long meeting in October. Keep reading to learn more about this important work in our community.
The Faith Community Housing Summit Planning Team is excited that several local faith communities have come together to address the housing crisis in our Fox Cities neighborhoods. To broaden the reach of this work, we are inviting faith communities to attend a day-long summit on:
Saturday, Oct 12th, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM at
First Congregational United Church of Christ, 724 East South River St, Appleton.
Summit Goals
1. Inspire area faith communities to address the local housing crisis; and,
2. Commitment to collective action(s) to bring about systemic change.
There will be eight speakers offering insights into the current housing situation and sharing strategies from mobilizing our neighborhoods around the housing crisis to exploring different affordable housing developments.
Following are the speakers. Click on their organization name for more information.
Rev. Mark Elsdon – RootedGood – Keynote Speaker
Rep. Lee Snodgrass – State Assembly District 57
Kara Homan – City of Appleton Community and Economic Development
Jason Schulist & Ted Toussaint – Generative Local Community Institute
Julie Filapek - NeighborWorks Green Bay
Lisa Strandberg – Pillars
Liz Croley – City of Appleton Coordinated Entry
Pre-Summit Work
We ask that all attendees review the following two documents prior to the summit.
2. City of Appleton Comprehensive Plan 2010 – 2030 Chapter 5 – Housing and Neighborhoods
Registration
Click the below button to view the event invitation. Please share with anyone within your faith community who may be interested in attending the summit. You can scan the QR code on the invitation or Click Here to register. Early Bird registration is $15 by September 2nd.
Questions
Contact the First Congregational United Church of Christ Office Manager, Zaina Gonzales at (920) 733-7393.
Blessings, *Faith Communities Housing Summit Planning Group
*First Congregational United Church of Christ Appleton, First United Methodist Church Appleton, Memorial Presbyterian Church, St. Mary Parish (representing Churches United in Care), and Zion Lutheran Church-ELCA, Appleton.
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