10 Steps to a Healthier Community

Local leaders share concrete ways Traverse City (and beyond) can improve in 2024

By Art Bukowski | Dec. 23, 2023

Northern Michigan is fortunate to have a wide range of people and organizations dedicated to the vitality of our region. While the missions (and sometimes the opinions) differ, everyone shares a common goal of improving the quality of life for those who live or visit our corner of the state.

As we look to a new year, Northern Express asked 10 community leaders one simple question: What changes can be made in 2024 to make our community healthier?

Jonathan Stimson | Executive Director, Homestretch Nonprofit Housing Corp.

I believe any of our affordable housing developments in Traverse City would make the community healthier in 2024—ask anyone who is living beyond their means with respect to housing. I have seen 1-bedroom apartments listed for $1,600 per month and 2-bedroom units from $1,800 to $2,000. You need to make between $65-80,000 per year to afford them, yet almost 50 percent of our population in Traverse City makes less than $60,000 per year.

When you add in utilities, pet fees, and furnishings, most of the people we move into our units are paying upwards of 50 percent of their gross income or 70 percent of net for housing. This is very unhealthy for them and their families.

It used to be that affordable housing was only for individuals making less than 80 percent area median income (AMI) but no more. Things have gotten so out of hand the next bracket will be 120-150 percent AMI! This issue of housing has altered the city and character of our communities and must be addressed on a larger scale. Yes, we are making incremental changes and progress has been made, but Homestretch and other nonprofit developers need more funding and public support in 2024.

Nikki Rothwell | Coordinator, Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Center

One thing that I think we can do as a community for our community to be healthier is to commit to our local farmers and farm families.

We can commit to purchasing food (and drinks!) that are grown, harvested, processed, and sold by farmers throughout the Grand Traverse region and Michigan. We can make this commitment despite the cheaper, non-local food selections we see at the grocery stores. We can commit to the extra stop at the farm stand, farmers market, or other less convenient option to seek out the food grown in our backyard. We can commit to fully reading labels and seeking out information on products to ensure that they are grown in Michigan.

We can commit to our farmers by thinking openly about agriculture and how it is going to look moving into the future. We hope that the community appreciates and values the hard work that goes into producing food, and that to continue to do so in these trying times (climate change, development pressure, imports, labor shortages, housing crises—just to name a few!), growers are going to need to think outside the box to keep the farm profitable.

Mary Manner| Co-Director, Great Start to Quality Northwest Resource Center 

Our social lives took a hit during the pandemic, and we have all struggled to some degree to get back to “our old selves.” Families with children born during the pandemic face an extra challenge—their babies missed many of the socialization opportunities that help build the foundations for healthy social-emotional development.

We can make our community healthier in 2024 by supporting local behavioral health initiatives and, at the state policy level, advocating to make infant/early childhood mental health consultation resources available in every county in Michigan. Our pandemic babies are now entering preschool where, as a group, they will experience the highest rate of expulsion of any pre-K through grade 12 student. By attending to their social-emotional needs now, we can create a healthier, happier future for us all.

Glen Chown | Executive Director, Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy

There are a lot of people choosing to live in northern Michigan right now for a variety of reasons. Newcomers, I feel, need to understand that what makes this region so amazing is the outstanding quality of our natural resources, and that they too can play an important role in making sure our pristine waters, agricultural landscapes, and natural areas remain healthy.

There isn't a simple answer to how we ensure this happens, but it would be good for all of us—newcomers and long-time residents alike—to make time to spend outside, in nature, observing the beauty that surrounds us and ask, “what can I do to help sustain this?” And rather than sitting on the sidelines, why not roll up your sleeves and volunteer at one or more of the fabulous nonprofits in our region working to make a difference? There is no shortage of opportunities to engage or on-the-ground needs to make northern Michigan an even better place to live, work, and play.

Ashley Halladay-Schmandt | Director, Northwest Michigan Coalition to End Homelessness

Increasing year-round emergency shelter capacity while at the same time focusing on developing supportive housing is essential for fostering community health. Emergency shelters provide immediate relief, offering a safety net for those experiencing homelessness. However, sustainable change requires a more comprehensive strategy, emphasizing the development of permanent supportive housing.

Supportive housing not only offers residents a secure place to live but also delivers vital support services, promoting independence and well-being. By simultaneously expanding emergency shelter options and investing in supportive housing initiatives, our community can create a robust system that not only responds to immediate needs but also facilitates lasting positive transformations, contributing to the overall health and stability of our most vulnerable residents.

Christine Crissman | Executive Director, The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay

We could make our community a healthier place to live by identifying the sources of harmful bacteria at local beaches so we can work together to reduce bacterial contamination. Elevated bacteria levels at beaches pose a threat to public health and cause illness, especially in young children and people with compromised immune systems. In 2024, The Watershed Center will install green infrastructure in the Village of Northport to reduce bacteria inputs to beaches from stormwater.

Additionally, we will conclude a microbial source tracking study to determine the sources of bacterial contamination at local beaches so appropriate remediation efforts can be implemented to reduce harmful bacteria. While these monitoring efforts help inform large-scale bacterial reduction efforts, we can all take simple actions to make our beaches a healthier place to be by not feeding gulls and other birds, picking up after our pets, and having young children take frequent bathroom breaks.

Roger Amundsen | Chair, Traverse City Arts Commission

I believe public art has a real opportunity for changing, or at least reframing, the way our community interacts with the world—initiating or furthering conversations around local and global issues, challenging and broadening our ideas or assumptions, overall grounding our community in ways that encourage a healthy sense of resiliency and place.

I’m excited for the ways that the Traverse City Arts Commission (TCAC) is a part of facilitating those interactions and centering community health. Through that lens, one of the projects I’m most excited by in 2024 is our involvement in the TART Bayfront Extension and Improvement Project. While leveraging the work of many collaborative partners, the extension will be incorporating non-motorized infrastructure with public art—elevating a main transportation artery, and encouraging inclusive ways for the community to get outside, be active, spend time with one another, and to be surprised or challenged by art.

Warren Call | President/CEO, Traverse Connect

Our region needs to continue to focus on our economic health in order to provide year-round family sustaining careers. The key need for economic health is our ability to retain and attract a skilled workforce for the future, which involves continued investment in quality-of-life amenities and the necessities of daily life such as adequate housing and childcare for all income levels.

At the fundamental level, we will have considerable challenges recruiting and retaining the skilled workforce of the future if we do not address the needs of our most vulnerable population—the homeless. One of the first and most important activities we as a region can undertake in 2024 to make our community healthier is to address both chronic and periodic homelessness in order to reduce or eliminate residents living in tents or on the streets.

Trevor Tkach | President/CEO, Traverse City Tourism

A “healthier” community will make for a healthier community. Dozens of community leaders and interested parties have convened under the Traverse Indoor Sports Coalition over the past few years in hopes of developing more facilities to help keep locals active year-round. This is great for physical and mental health outcomes. Indoor turf, courts, and tracks can also lead to tournaments and travel team matches that bring dollars into our community at times of year when local businesses need the demand.

Enthusiasm for the idea has brought a variety of concepts to light. TCAPS is considering a public private concept to develop facilities. The YMCA is working toward the addition of courts and turf, too. I would be thrilled to see one or more of these projects gain enough momentum to break ground in 2024.

Kelly Dunham | Executive Director, Bay Area Transportation Authority

Commuters have an opportunity in 2024 to proactively make a change in their lifestyle that would benefit their health. The congestion caused by the upcoming Grandview Parkway reconstruction may be the motivation people need to make a healthy lifestyle change and consider other forms of transportation.

Did you know that using public transit can improve your health? The CDC found that people who use public transit are associated with 10-30 minutes of additional walking per day, and walking is a great way to become physically and mentally healthier. BATA’s free Bayline buses will be one of the solutions to help people navigate around this massive project by providing rides from hotels or park-and-ride lots east and west of downtown Traverse City. In addition, BATA’s new transfer station and park-and-ride lot on Lafranier Rd. gives people even more options to get downtown healthier and happier.