Livin’ on a Prayer: FROM Cuts the Ribbon on New Main Street Housing Campus

Last week, we cut a ribbon ten years in the making.
More than 200 friends and neighbors joined us to celebrate the opening of new affordable and supportive housing right here in Lowell. It was the culmination of countless prayers, an unwavering community, and a whole lot of faith that the path forward would eventually become clear, even when it didn’t look like it would.

The Bon Jovi song “Livin’ on a Prayer” kept coming to mind while preparing remarks for the event. It fits. We prayed for the right partner, and found ICCF Community Homes, whose expertise in housing development filled the gap we couldn’t fill ourselves. ICCF connected us to Eastbrook Homes, who brought the designs to life. Layer by layer, the right people showed up.

Ray Duimstra of Mercantile Bank, who has walked this journey nearly from the beginning, said it well: “FROM didn’t have to do this. They could have ran into these obstacles and shrugged their shoulders… they were relentless.”

Senator Thomas Albert noted the project will help the area “one family at a time.” And Carly Swanson, representing the Governor’s Office, left us with a phrase worth keeping: it takes a village to build a village. Lowell has always been that kind of village.

In the coming weeks, families will move in, decorate, and start building memories. That’s what this was always about.
We prayed, we trusted, and God delivered. Thank you for being part of it.

Want to help welcome our new tenants home? We’re assembling welcome baskets and would love your help filling them. Check out our Amazon Wish List to get involved.