July MISSION OF THE MONTH: Interfaith Coalition For Housing, launches transitional housing in Door County. The newly formed Interfaith Coalition for Housing was founded by several area churches in the fall of 2025 as a response to homelessness in Door County. In partnership with Door County Medical Center and Habitat for Humanity remodeling work began on a single-family home in Sturgeon Bay. The home will serve as transitional housing for one local family at a time who is experiencing housing insecurity related to a crisis or life altering circumstance. The hospital owns the building on 16th Avenue in Sturgeon Bay that was once a clinic, and then later used for storage. CEO Brian Stephens of DCMC offered to rent the building for a nominal fee. In order to renovate the former clinic into a three-bedroom, two-bathroom single family home, ICH reached out to Lori Allen, Door County Habitat for Humanity’s executive director. An $80,000 budgetary goal was agreed upon for remodeling costs and a team of Habitat volunteers and employees committed to starting work once the goal was reached. The funds were raised by August of 2025 and DCMC provided money and ICH partner churches took up collections to raise the rest. So far the coalition of churches include the Moravian Church, Hope Church, Bay View Lutheran, Christ the King Holy Nativity, Sturgeon Bay United Methodist Church, and Hainesville Lutheran Church. The coalition is tackling what Rev. Matt Knapp (of Moravian Church) considers the most extreme level of need that faith leaders see in the community – families with children who are experiencing housing insecurity because of a catastrophic life event or change in circumstances. It is usually a situation that requires long-term support. “They need time to get everything pulled back together again”. A variety of educational, financial, and mentoring programs are made available to help families succeed. Check-in meetings are scheduled with a case manager, and financial counseling and otherservices are arranged to support employment, savings and long-term stability. Please consider contributing to the July mission project enabling our Methodist Church to be an active participant in the coalition of churches seeking to address the challenges of housing in Door County.
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Submitted by Michaela Holey
