Home » Housing Information » Housing Planning Library

Springhill Housing Corporation: A Brief History and Outline of Services

Many people learn about Springhill Housing Corporation (Springhill) by searching for housing subsidies on the internet. Most of people living in Springhill homes entered through either the Oakland or Macomb Community Mental Health network (please see Oakland County Community Mental Health (OCCMHA) - Intake, Services and Supports or Macomb County Community Mental Health Intake, Services and Supports articles in the Housing Planning Library for more information). Most of the residents who live in Springhill homes come from referrals from Community Mental Health agencies.

As an entity, Springhill performs three distinct functions:

  1. Springhill is a non-profit property owner,
  2. Springhill assists those with inheritances by utilizing a pooled special needs trust account,
  3. Springhill is a CHDO (Community Home Development Organization) that operates a first time home buyer program with down payment assistance to qualified households with a family member with a disability.

History

Springhill is a non-profit 501(c) 3 organization formed in 1990 as part of a demonstration project funded by the Michigan Developmental Disabilities Council and the Michigan Department of Mental Health. The Springhill Board of Directors, all volunteers, is comprised of individuals from the disability community as well as advocates and professionals from both the business and human services sectors. The purpose of Springhill is to create and manage quality, affordable housing for low-income persons with disabilities. In keeping with the mission, Springhill has produced an array of affordable, desirable, long-term housing alternatives for such persons in Oakland and Macomb Counties. These options provide persons with disabilities the opportunity to live as independently as they choose. Springhill offers both homeownership opportunities that afford long term economic benefits as well as supportive rental housing.

Non-Profit Property Owner

Since its inception, Springhill has created an effective grass roots community development organization with total housing development exceeding eight (8) million dollars. These scattered site developments provide homes to more than 150 people with developmental disabilities or mental illness though out the greater community. Currently Springhill owns 21 rental properties. The organization has also sponsored four HUD 811 programs which include 21 properties and rental subsidies to 66 individuals with disabilities. Springhill is a recognized Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) with Oakland County, Macomb County, and MSHDA. Less than half of the Springhill properties are used as licensed group homes with the rest leased directly to people with disabilities as supported independent living settings.

Springhill is an organization with a proven track record that provides a solid foundation upon which to efficiently and effectively continue to provide housing for persons with disabilities. Springhill has not made these accomplishments alone. This has been achieved with a variety of support from entities such as Federal Home Loan Bank, Inter Faith Housing Trust Fund, HUD Section 811 Program, FNMA Community Lending Program, Oakland County Community and Home Improvement Division (HOME Program CHDO set-aside funds), Macomb County Community Development Department (CHDO funding - Home Rental Housing Program Grant), MSHDA, and HOMES Coalition.

Since 2002 Springhill has been awarded three grants from the Macomb County Community Development Department, totaling $1,018,000, thus far resulting in the purchase of 10 homes. With the help of supports from the ARC of Macomb County, all the individuals in these homes are living more self determined lives.

Springhill is structured to use third party vendors and supports that include an alliance of partners. This arrangement allows for the maximum use of both governmental and community based resources. Springhill currently utilizes the management services of Community Housing Network, Inc. (CHN), under an administrative services agreement. CHN is a HUD approved management agent for the Springhill HUD 811 projects. The CHN staff members have over 110 combined years of experience in housing development and property management for people with disabilities. Both CHN and Springhill have strong collaborative relationships with the OCCMHA and the core service providers. Springhill is not involved in direct service delivery to tenants. The supports for the individuals are provided by many service providers provided by many service providers through developing positive working relationships with numerous organizations in Oakland and Macomb counties. These agencies include the county mental health and economic development departments, Macomb Oakland Regional Center, Community Network Services, Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Associations for Retarded Citizens, The Center for Independent Living (now Disability Network), and Macomb Family Services.

Pooled Trust Account

As an additional service to people with disabilities, Springhill established a Pooled Accounts Trust that has grown in excess of two million dollars. The pooled accounts trust allows for the layering of resources, in order to leverage the personal resources of a person with a disability. This offers people with disabilities the opportunity to save for a down payment on a house or other exempt expenditures while preserving their eligibility for federal entitlements.

First Time Home Owners

The Oakland County Community and Home Improvement Division of the Oakland County Department of Community and Economic Development awarded Springhill Housing Corporation HOME Program CHDO set-aside funding in 2002 and 2003 totaling $708,596. The homeownership program has enabled many people with disabilities and their families to become homeowners. In addition, over 200 people have been screened to assess their homebuyer readiness. For those not prepared to take on homeownership, who work with them and their circle of support to identify the problem areas and work out a plan of action to own a home in the future. Sometimes a person is not yet credit worthy to purchase a home but can pursue credit repair to get ready in the future. Additionally, the program has a lease to purchase option that may be a good alternative for some families to begin pursuing home ownership.

Springhill continually strives to meet the housing needs of low and moderate income citizens in our area. As always, our mission to make homeownership or the control of a realistic housing option for people with disabilities leads us to continually explore new alternatives and opportunities.