News & Stories
Creating Homes, Building Stable Futures
Photo credit: Goodwill Northern Michigan
Image description: One of Goodwill's housing and homeless services' clients, who has a white beard and is wearing a gray henley long sleeve shirt and a POW MIA veterans baseball cap.
Day in and day out, Goodwill Northern Michigan strives to help people move out of homelessness and into safe and secure homes. Thanks to recent efforts, the nonprofit, with community-wide funding from local entities and individuals, is making great strides in supporting equitable access to housing.
As one of our 2025 Community Funds grant partners, Goodwill Northern Michigan is using the awarded funds to expand its housing and support for chronically unhoused people with disabilities, including mental illness.
With this grant, Goodwill Northern Michigan is ensuring its housing-based case managers are well-trained and trauma-informed, allowing them to meet people where they are on their journey. In this way, case managers can provide a supportive, healing environment for clients that emboldens their stabilization and independence.
“The Community Foundation’s investment allows us to provide the level of engagement, trust-building, and consistent support people exiting long-term homelessness need to remain stable in housing and meet their goals,” said Dan Buron, Goodwill’s Executive Director.
With its newly invested-in robust homeless response, Goodwill Northern Michigan is helping individuals and families explore solutions within their own networks, while receiving minor financial assistance and coaching to repair relationships or negotiate short-term housing arrangements. These efforts are leading to high success rates in connecting people experiencing long‑term homelessness with housing.
“Our community’s strong collaboration across the public, nonprofit, and private sectors is essential in this outstanding result,” shared Dan.
Such improvements are possible thanks to Goodwill Northern Michigan’s tireless efforts within the community to alleviate homelessness and build a network of support, supplemented by funding partners and individuals, such as our Board Director and Community Guardian Legacy Society member, Jerry Ring.
Jerry began supporting the Community Foundation after moving to Traverse City in 2019 because his values aligned with our own. Jerry believes that the economic, social, and environmental sectors of a community are inseparable, which aligns with Goodwill Northern Michigan’s approach to addressing homelessness through multiple avenues.
By supporting our Community Funds, Jerry has directly impacted Goodwill Northern Michigan’s most recent efforts to help transform area homeless response efforts.
“I take great personal satisfaction that my support of the Community Foundation and other nonprofits in the region, like Goodwill, helps ensure an equitable quality of life for all,” said Jerry.
As an organization, we strive to be a community partner, nurturing equity in our region, and it takes involvement from all sectors to achieve the goals that improve our community. Jerry and Goodwill Northern Michigan are actively contributing to a shared effort to create a more equitable community.
“Participation is a form of stewardship that promotes community impact and trust—both of which are critical to accomplishing the mission of the Community Foundation,” said Jerry.
We are proud to support local community members in transitioning from homelessness to stable living situations by working with grant partners like Goodwill Northern Michigan. These types of collaborative efforts are critical to cultivating a region that supports everyone.
“Communities need institutions that know them deeply, who understand the local dynamics, strengths, struggles, and opportunities,” said Dan. “While organizations like ours focus on one part of the puzzle, the Community Foundation sees the whole picture. We are fortunate to have a Community Foundation that is passionate about creating a better community for all of us.”
Together, as a community, we can support those who need it most. By helping one another through challenges like homelessness, we are creating a region where every person feels connected, supported, and empowered.
Writer: Alex Dailey