Community Economic Development 201: Affordable Housing

Event Details

Please join CEDAM for its first installment of Community Economic Development 201, a discussion-oriented panel where we will hear about and learn from the work of organizations across the state. Specifically, this session will focus on the theme of Affordable Housing. We will hear from our panelists about the work their organization is engaging, their individual career journeys in the CED field, and their thoughts on advancing Affordable Housing in Michigan.

Speakers

Marilyn Chrumka

Vice President of Development at Michigan Community Capital

Marilyn Chrumka has a degree in Community Relations from Michigan State University. Marilyn began her career doing door-to-door community organizing a...

Sharilyn Parsons

Community Development Manager at City of Kalamazoo

Sharilyn Parsons started her journey into affordable housing by accident, experiencing fair housing and lending discriminatory, she decided to enter i...

Marilyn Chrumka has a degree in Community Relations from Michigan State University. Marilyn began her career doing door-to-door community organizing and working for grassroot non-profits such as Clean Water Action, the Foundation for Sustainable Development, and the Community Relations Coalition. After a brief attempt to change her degree to Horticulture and starting an urban flower farm on Ingham County Landbank property, she got an internship at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) for the Community Assistance Team.

Post-graduation, she worked on the launch the Redevelopment Ready Communities Program statewide at the MEDC before moving into the role as a Community Assistance Team Specialist. In this position, she loved traveling across 9 counties in Michigan, meeting with Downtown Development Directors, City Managers, and other interested stakeholders to talk about their Community Development goals.

In 2016, Marilyn went to work for a private development company, Kincaid Henry Building Group. There, she worked with investors to financially structure and close downtown revitalization projects.

Marilyn joined Michigan Community Capital (MCC) in 2019. In her role as Vice President of Development, she uses her experience as a generalist rooted in human connection to balance the ever-conflicting needs of design and return on investment. Over the past six years, she has created 275 middle-income apartment units across the state and has built and sold 36 owner-occupied homes.

Sharilyn Parsons started her journey into affordable housing by accident, experiencing fair housing and lending discriminatory, she decided to enter in the Real Estate profession as well as develop housing educational programs that would equip others with knowledge and “be a solution.” She has been enmeshed in working within all facets of housing development for over 30 years. She has served and trained as a housing (pre-purchase and post-purchase) counselor, a non-profit CDFI lender and developer through her previous work within a non-profit Community Development Corporation with a focus on affordable and attainable housing.

She currently serves as the Community Development Manager with the City of Kalamazoo and oversees the city’s HUD Entitlement Awards as well as the creation and execution of housing strategies within the city. She serves on the Advisory Committee of the Kalamazoo Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) and holds a bachelor’s degree in Family Education.

Event Details

Speakers

Marilyn Chrumka

Sharilyn Parsons

Tickets

Member

Non-Member

Presented By

Community

Connect with 37 people attending this event

Event Details

Speakers

Marilyn Chrumka

Sharilyn Parsons

Tickets

Member

Non-Member

Presented By

Organizers

Community

Connect with 37 people attending this event