Housing nonprofit marks five years by launching new rent-to-own program
March 4, 2021 2
This house on North 30th Street in Church Hill is the first built specifically for the rent-to-own program.
(Photos courtesy of MWCLT)
On the heels of its fifth year in existence, and its third providing houses for lower-income residents, a homegrown nonprofit is marking the occasion with a new program aimed at broadening its reach for facilitating homeownership.
The Maggie Walker Community Land Trust has launched a new rent-to-own program that’s aimed at helping renters prepare to become homebuyers.
Called the Homeownership Bridge program, it uses grant funds awarded through the City of Richmond’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund to set aside homes specifically for would-be buyers who do not currently qualify for a mortgage, be it due to a low credit score or an inability to afford a down payment or pay closing costs.
Kalamazoo’s homicide victims of 2020 remembered
Updated Jan 04, 2021;
Posted Jan 01, 2021
(Top from left) Royalty Houston-Hooper, McKenna Dutkiewicz, Carmen Hughes, Londrell Cook, Cornelius Fredricks and Dondreal Watkins. (Bottom from left) DeVante Coleman, Brandon Kelley, Michael Clopton III, Rachel Curl, Victor Davis and Robert James Richardson Jr.
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There were more than 70
non-fatal shootings and 13 homicides due to gun violence within Kalamazoo city limits in 2020. Overall, there were 14 homicides in Kalamazoo: three in Portage, two in Kalamazoo Township, one in Oshtemo Township and one in Richland Township, bringing the countywide homicide count to 21.
The total surpasses the previous century mark of 20 homicides in 2016. That year, 11 of the 20 deaths occurred during two mass killings one in February when Uber driver Jason Dalton shot and killed six people and wounded two others, and one in June when Charles Pickett Jr. drove his truck into a group of
Portage woman pleads guilty to killing boyfriend’s 2-year-old daughter
Updated Dec 10, 2020;
Posted Dec 10, 2020
Tranaya Spencer, 22, pleaded guilty Thursday, Dec. 10 to one count of manslaughter and one count of third-degree child abuse in the death of 2-year-old Royalty Hooper-Houston. Police responded to Milham Meadows Apartments in Portage, Michigan, March 13, 2020 on the report of the child being unresponsive. (MLive file photo)KALAMAZOO
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Tranaya Spencer, 22, pleaded guilty Thursday, Dec. 10 to one count of manslaughter and one count of third-degree child abuse, Kalamazoo County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Scott Brower told MLive.
Spencer will be sentenced Jan. 4 in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court.
Dec 11, 2020
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - On Thursday, Tranaya Spencer plead guilty to manslaughter and third-degree child abuse in the death of 2-year-old Royalty Regina Mae Hooper-Houston.
The charges are a result of the March 13 incident at the apartments on Dove Court off of Milham Avenue in Portage.
Read the full story on WOOD TV.