West Michigan Housing Summit 2026: Time to Turn Talk into Action

Ryan Kilpatrick
2 days ago
2 min read

On August 6, housing leaders, policymakers, developers, and local officials from across West Michigan came together at GVSU’s Richard M. DeVos Center for the 2026 West Michigan Housing Summit. The day carried one clear message: We know the challenge. Now let's build the solution.

Setting the Tone

Ryan Kilpatrick of Flywheel Community Development Services and Sam Cummings of CWD Real Estate Investment kicked things off with a look back at how far the region's housing conversation has come, a check-in on where things stand now, and a preview of the work still ahead. It set the stage for a day that covered a lot of ground — legislation, public engagement, redevelopment, affordability, and homelessness — and made clear just how many moving parts the region's housing challenge really involves.

Six Breakout Sessions, Six Angles on Housing

From there, attendees broke into six sessions across two rounds, each digging into a different piece of the puzzle.

A state legislative panel with Rep. Stephen Wooden, Sen. Mark Huizenga, and Jennifer Bowman of MSHDA unpacked housing reforms working their way through Lansing.
Another group tackled public engagement, with Jason Wheeler of Wheeler Development
Group, Ryan Schmidt of Indigo Design + Development, and Rowan Brady of the City of Grand Rapids talking through how to build real trust around housing and growth projects.
Cameron Van Wyngarden of Plainfield Charter Township and Nicole Hofert of the City of Wyoming took on corridor redevelopment and place-based investment.
Bev Thiel of Habitat for Humanity Kent County and Mick McGraw of Eastbrook Homes pushed back on the idea that subsidy alone can solve affordability.
A session on homelessness brought together Thelma Ensink of Dégagé Ministries, Adrienne Goodstal of North Kent Connect, and Tenisa Frye of Family Promise of West Michigan to talk about what coordinated response actually looks like in rural and urban communities.
Cy Richardson of the National Urban League offered a session connecting housing equity to the region's broader economic growth.

Ending on a Hopeful Note

The day wrapped with a keynote from Coby Lefkowitz, author of Building Optimism, who pulled the day's threads together and pushed the room to think bigger and bolder about what's possible for housing in West Michigan. That optimism showed up all day long. Speakers kept coming back to what the region could build together rather than dwelling on the scale of the problem.

Takeaways: We can build beautiful and affordable communities, regardless of style or materials. Design matters: it starts with the basic infrastructure and public spaces, and the last 20% is the buildings themselves. One project begets another, and they add up to support a great community.

Community Support Behind the Summit

The summit was made possible by a wide coalition of sponsors and partners. LMCU served as premier sponsor, with additional backing from MSHDA, Corewell Health, Fifth Third Bank, Mercantile Community Partners, Opp Fund, and Wolverine Construction. Regional housing partners Housing Next, The Right Place, and the Grand Rapids Urban League are grateful to all those that played a key role in bringing the day together.

Miss the Summit?

Video recordings and presentation materials from the summit will be posted to the Housing Next website in the coming weeks, giving those who couldn't attend access to the breakout sessions, and Lefkowitz's keynote.