Community Housing Network Responds to Growing Housing Crisis Across Oakland County

Community Housing Network’s Housing Resource Center, fields 26,000 inquiries and helps 18,000 Oakland County residents facing housing challenges in the past year

An 81-year-old woman living in her car or occasional hotel, a father who’d been laid off and struggled to keep current on his rent, a mother and two daughters facing eviction after their landlord sold the home they lived in… these are just a few of the 18,000 people who called seeking help from Community Housing Network’s Housing Resource Center (HRC) in the past year.

The subject of affordability has been in the headlines as more people struggle to afford housing and other basics, and the HRC is there to help Oakland County residents at risk of eviction or needing help finding an affordable place to live.

“In my 25 years in housing services, I don’t know that things have ever been more challenging for people of limited means,” says CEO Kirsten Elliott. “With our support from the Oakland Community Health Network (OCHN), we’re pleased to be able to offer help to Oakland County residents at no charge.”

People reaching out the HRC – via the telephone, email will be connected with a trained housing specialist, who initially conducts an intake screening that will allow them to recommend local programs and resources to help them overcome their housing challenges. The HRC received almost 26,000 inquiries this year, and the process typically takes two to four business days.

“Our mission, like OCHN’s, includes empowering people and strengthening communities,” says Elliott. “We both recognize that mental health and stable housing go hand in hand, and a problem with one can often lead to a problem with the other.”

Of the many of the agencies and resources the HRC refers people to, the most frequent include The Salvation Army, Oakland Livingston Human Service Agency, St. Vincent De Paul and Habitat for Humanity, Lakeshore Legal Aid and MI Works.  Frequent referrals to organizations such as Pontiac’s Parent Empowerment Center and Rx Kids, speak to the ongoing challenges of raising a family while the cost of living remains high.

Oakland County residents seeking referral assistance can visit https://communityhousingnetwork.org/get-help/, call or text “housing” to 248-269-1335, or send an email to HRC@chninc.net. There’s also a live chat function on the HRC’s website that’s monitored during business hours.

“I don’t know that there’s ever been a greater need for our Housing Resource Center,” says Elliott. “But the sad reality is that, if someone is homeless, we can screen them and get them onto the Oakland County Housing registry if they qualify, but there can be as many as 400 people on the registry any given time, which means they still have to wait for a home they can afford. The ultimate answer is more affordable housing – not just in Oakland County, but all our communities – so more people of limited means have a safe place to live.”