News Photo by Julie Riddle At the Sunrise Mission in Alpena, resident Brian Brown talks last month about the difficulty he’s faced finding low-income housing in Alpena.

ALPENA — When not delivering pizzas or preparing fast food, Brian Brown puts in docks and boat hoists, unloads trucks, and provides lawn care.

Hustling to earn a livable income hasn’t put a roof over his head, however.

Access to affordable housing helps pull people out of poverty and creates stronger schools, more stable families, more jobs, and substantial economic boosts to the community, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

In Alpena, however, a shortage of such housing could keep away the workers needed to bring new business and financial growth to the community, landlords, contractors, and housing advocates agree.

As of 2017, less than half of Alpena County’s lowest-income residents had access to housing they could actually afford, meaning no more than 30% of their household income, according to the most recent county-level data from the Low Income Housing Coalition.

That group’s latest annual state-level report shows the problem worsened by 2019, and the group says the coronavirus pandemic has only worsened the situation since then.

But developers struggle to build new low-income housing — especially since the cost of materials skyrocketed amid the pandemic — because the government grants often relied upon to build such facilities often go to more populous areas.

With rising costs to buy or build a house and much of Northeast Michigan’s housing stock tied up as seasonal homes such as lake cottages, people of any income have struggled to find a place to live, The News reported recently.

But those who make the least have been especially hard-hit.

Brown has lived at Sunrise Mission, a homeless shelter in Alpena, for a month. He prowls the streets of Alpena, looking in vain for “for rent” signs. Online rental listings barely exist, and the large, low-income apartment complexes advertised in the Mission office have long waiting lists.

“I stay working. I stay broke. I stay homeless,” Brown said. “There’s no getting out.”

‘THINK AGAIN’

Building 100 affordable rental homes generates $11.7 million in local income and $2.2 million in taxes and other revenue for local governments, plus 161 local jobs, according to an analysis by the National Association of Home Builders.

Low-income parents who can afford their housing are more likely to attend teacher conferences, according to the Low Income Housing Coalition. Their children are more likely to get good grades and to grow up to have skilled jobs that serve the community.

Despite such benefits and mostly full rentals in Alpena, developers stopped building new apartment buildings even before construction costs rose in 2020, according to Stephen Werth, a builder and developer who owns rural rental properties across the state, including several apartment complexes in Alpena.

Developers willing to invest in building low-income housing may be reluctant to do so in a rural area, said Craig Patterson, who owns commercial property and several median-income housing units in Alpena.

Government funding, crucial to such construction, often goes to communities where new housing falls within walking distance of jobs and services — more likely in larger cities than rural areas, Patterson said. Alpena’s low cost of living — attractive to people who want to live here — can deter developers who know low rents mean a longer wait to recoup upfront costs.

Communities serious about attracting business and adding jobs have to take low-income housing seriously, he said, because the bus drivers, teachers, clerks, startup entrepreneurs, and other low- to moderate-income workers crucial to a community can’t afford to fill those jobs if they don’t have a place to live.

“If you think you’re only going to need housing for the execs, think again,” Patterson said.

Before a developer takes a chance on creating low-income housing, a city needs to show readiness to offer tax abatements and other help, Patterson said.

‘GET IN THE POOL’

Nearly one in five Alpena County renting households spend half their paychecks on rent and utility bills, leaving little to contribute to the community’s economy, according to the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.

Housing vouchers and other funding, available from multiple sources, can help people pay for housing, according to Joe Gentry, executive director of the United Way of Northeast Michigan.

With most rentals occupied, however, low-income earners have nowhere to spend that financial help, Gentry said.

Alpena supports its homeless shelter generously, but those serious about helping people find homes could do even more good by restoring Alpena’s uninhabitable homes, Brown suggested.

To create more housing spaces, “everybody’s got to get in the pool,” with collaboration between lenders, builders, real estate experts, and government officials, Gentry said.

“It’s got to happen here,” Gentry said. “It will. I think. Hopefully.”