SAGINAW, MI — Last winter, Dylan Hellus was thinking first and foremost of his bride, Pit & Balcony’s Amy Spadafore, as she gave birth to their first baby boy.
The Covenant hospital room was overlooking Bliss Park, and as he thought about the family’s future, he also pondered the outlook for Covenant’s northwest city territory. Community affairs is his career niche.
Karma! Not only was DJ born healthy, but Hellus learned that Covenant Health Care was creating a new staff outreach position for community outreach. He was hired in June as neighborhood engagement specialist, with a resume that features his 2013 SVSU poly sci degree, followed by staffing for both Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and U.S. Sen. Gary Peters.
His prime task is to sustain the area with boundaries of North Michigan (east), Davenport (north), Barnard (west) and Court (south) streets.
He explains that nearly 300 vacant lots are within the Covenant neighborhood, among more than 3,000 citywide. Covenant has gained ownership of 160, while another 120 are in the hands of the county land bank.
“Our goal is to in-fill the lots with housing,” Hellus says. “When several lots are together, those can be main locations for development.”
Residents can see for themselves with construction of three Habitat houses. One is on Cooper near North Bond, and another pair are on North Fayette along the Bliss Park entrance.
“We are looking for 100 new units, so that’s three down and 97 to go,” he notes.
A third partner is the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, MSHDA, which features Saginaw in this video.
A summer ribbon-cutting featured Beth Charlton, Covenant president and CEO, along with Carmen Mora, Saginaw-Shiawassee Habitat director, and Amy Hovey, MSHDA’s top exec.
Mora explains that she approached Charlton with a modest proposal to help paint houses in the northwest Covenant/Bliss Park area, and was surprisingly pleased at the “let’s do more” response.
Charlton says affordable housing is essential to health care, allowing a path to clearcut focus on specific concerns such as chronic illnesses, obesity and maternal/infant well-being.
Hovey concludes that Saginaw will serve as a statewide model for MSHDA, which is funded with project revenues and not state tax dollars.
Meanwhile, Covenant employees may opt to purchase a home in the neighborhood under a “Walk to Work” arrangement that offers up to $30,000 for down payment assistance and/or renovation.
Hellus keeps tabs with the Covenant Neighborhood Association, which is among the city’s strongest grassroots groups, for more projects. He may be reached at dylan.hellus@chs-mi.com or (989) 607-0584.
