GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Across West Michigan, nonprofits like Family Promise are seeing homelessness on the rise. They say it's not because families aren't working, but because there simply isn't enough affordable housing that's appropriate for raising kids.
One man, Jesse English, understands the struggle and now he's hoping to help others. English went from homeless to homeowner, and now, through his passion for skating, he's looking to take life into his own hands by starting his own skate shop.
English was out on the road, living with his wife and young daughter in his car, when he first heard about Family Promise. "We didn't have a whole lot saved up, but everything we did have saved, we spent that staying in a hotel and trying to find apartments, but at that time, it was really slim pickings on everything," English said.
That's where Family Promise comes in. They're a nonprofit that works with families, who have school-aged children, to find them affordable housing.
Family Promise put English and his family in an apartment for the better part of two years. "At that point, it was like starting completely over from scratch," English recalls. "So it was a lot of kind of clawing our way back up to where we were, and to continue and move forward with our plans."
That's what Family Promise aims to do: end the cycle of homelessness. "65% of chronically homeless adults were homeless as a child," Jim Davis, Vice President of Business Development at Family Promise, said. "So what we're doing with families, specifically with young children during developmental years, is we're combating homelessness in a generational way."
Davis explains Kent County is about 34,000 housing units short. "Today, there are 13 families that are asking for a shelter room, and all of our locations are full," Davis said.
English was once in a similar spot to these families, but now, he's back on his feet... and the founder of his own skate shop.
"Once I started Focus Skate Shop, another goal of mine is to start my own nonprofit called Stay Focused," English said. To kick-start his business, English donated skateboards back to Family Promise, with dreams of one day creating his own skate park as an everyday reminder that homeless does not mean hopeless.
As English says, "There's always hope, as long as you have somebody in your corner, somebody to give you a little stepping stone, a little step up and a boost in the right direction, even if it's just a tiny little safety net for a month."
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