If you drive through the Hannahville Indian Community right now, you’ll see something worth stopping for: new homes going up on solid foundations, often right next to the mobile homes they’re replacing.

Where it started

The Michigan Potawatomi Housing Authority goes back to 1977. In those early years, tribal council members sat on its board, and it existed mostly to bring in federal HUD grants. It was not yet a working housing program.

In 1991 I took the full-time job as Housing Director. In 1992 I founded the trailer park project. The goal was simple: get our families into safe, affordable housing on our own land, using what we had at the time.

Where it is now

More than 30 years later, the housing program has grown a lot. Many homes are being remodeled. Older mobile homes, many from that early period, are being replaced with new, stick-built homes. The photos above show one of them at different stages: the floor deck, then the walls going up with house wrap.

Why it matters

Housing is more than buildings. It shows whether a community’s systems are working. Every home here grew out of decisions made by tribal members: on boards, on committees, and in the housing office. When we understand our organizations and take our responsibilities seriously, the results show up on the ground where everyone can see them.

That is a big part of why I started Potawatomi Life: to help our people understand the organizations that serve them, and the role they play when they sit on a board or committee.

Megwetch to every board member, staff person, crew member, and family who helped build our housing program over the years.

I tell more of this story in my upcoming book, releasing November 4. Learn more and sign up here.