Vote for me to win bonus grant money
On Stacey Ruwe’s desk lies a growing stack of applications—each one a story of crisis. Families on the brink of eviction. Students without a safe place to sleep. Parents and children at risk of homelessness.
Seeking hope, they come to the organization Ruwe serves as president—Homeless Prevention Partners. Ruwe personally reviews each request, vets applicants and collects documentations to present the case to the organization’s board to coordinate immediate help for the family.
As a real estate professional for City2Shore Gateway Group in the western Michigan community of Spring Lake, Ruwe knows all too well the importance of a home. She feels the weight of every application—knowing someone is at risk of losing not just shelter, but the stability that comes with it.
A Hidden But Growing Issue
Despite the scenic backdrop along Lake Michigan, towns in Ottawa and Muskegon counties face a growing homelessness crisis.
“People assume this is a resort town and this isn’t an issue,” Ruwe says. “But there are about 300 homeless kids in the Grand Haven public school system alone. They’re living in cars, parking lots—anywhere they can stay warm. … Families are doing everything they can and then one thing happens—like a sick kid—and they fall behind. And then what?”
Ruwe works closely with school district liaisons to coordinate help.
“My light of hope in this darkness has been Stacey Ruwe and the Homeless Prevention Partners,” says Sarah Elliott, McKinney-Vento liaison for the Grand Haven Area Public School District. “Housing has become so scarce, the need so great and the costs so high. … They’ve helped families when no one else could in a truly life-changing way.”
Under Ruwe’s direction, what began as a community fundraiser, Soup For All, evolved into the nonprofit Homeless Prevention Partners in January 2020—just as the pandemic unleashed a further wave of housing instability.
Acting Quickly to Keep Families Housed
“Rising rents and shrinking housing inventories have pushed more families to the edge,” Ruwe says. “The need has probably quadrupled” in the last year alone. “A single emergency—an illness or a job loss—starts a snowball effect they can’t stop.”
Each year, Homeless Prevention Partners helps about 60 families with housing assistance, such as avoiding eviction or foreclosure due to an unforeseen hardship. They provide direct assistance, like covering utilities, rent or mortgage payments, to keep families housed.
“Housing has become so scarce, the need so great and the costs so high ... [Homeless Prevention Partners has] helped families when no else could in a truly life-changing way.” —Sarah Elliott, Grand Haven Area Public School District
They also serve as a lifeline for financially strapped families who are unsure of where to turn, connecting them with community agencies and church organizations. They raise funds for area non-profit organizations and help coordinate assistance through local partners for more than 1,000 families annually for essentials like food, hygiene kits, utility assistance and guidance for longer-term support.
Homeless Prevention Partners steps in at pivotal moments of crisis. They typically respond within 24 to 48 hours to requests for help. Because they’re entirely community-funded, there’s no government or grant red tape. “If an emergency need comes out that qualifies, we get it approved quickly,” Ruwe says. “That’s how we’re able to put a check in someone’s hand within 24 hours.”
Elliott recalls one such urgent case: “At 4 p.m. on a Friday, we needed money for a property management company to avoid eviction. Stacey literally drove to the bank to get it deposited in person to the landlord. Two years later, that family is still in that home.”
When a family’s need goes beyond short-term help, Homeless Prevention Partners connects them to its network of agencies and churches for longer-term assistance.
Creating Stability That Lasts
Jamie Johnson, a homeowner in Muskegon, never imagined she’d need help. But after a divorce and delayed paycheck, she fell behind on her mortgage.
“I got behind on my mortgage, and the bank was threatening to foreclose,” Johnson says. With emergency help from Homeless Prevention Partners this past January, she brought her mortgage current and has been able to stay in the place she’s known as home for the last eight years. “After everything I went through with the divorce, my home is so important to me,” she says. “It is my safe place.”
The organization’s mission goes beyond housing. From hygiene kits to gas cards for transportation assistance and car repairs, to school support and coalition-building, Ruwe wants to weave in a lasting safety net. She also organized a partnership with a local credit union to offer free budgeting help to every family served. “Our goal is not just to help them survive this month,” Ruwe says. “It’s to help them never be in this situation again.”
Elliott sees the lasting impact of Homeless Prevention Partners within her school district. For example, she recalls the story of a mother of two children with disabilities who was newly free from an abusive husband. She was facing eviction because she couldn’t catch up with rent.
“Stacey reviewed the information, and [Homeless Prevention Partners] agreed to pay off the remaining past-due rent,” Elliott says. “This mom was given a new sense of hope, got a better-paying job and eventually purchased her own home. … It was truly life changing.”
Ruwe continues to lay the groundwork to expand the organization’s reach and network. In 2023, Homeless Prevention Partners expanded beyond Ottawa County into Muskegon County and continues to build new networks to help families throughout western Michigan.
“Our goal is not just to help them survive this month. It’s to help them never be in this situation again.” —Stacey Ruwe
Word of the need is spreading throughout communities as well: The annual soup fundraiser now draws hundreds of attendees and raises $30,000 to $40,000 each year. An annual—and quickly growing—community golf tournament adds about $20,000 more to Homeless Prevention Partners budget.
Still, much of the organization’s work stays behind the scenes. “It’s humbling to have to ask for help,” Ruwe says. “That’s why we keep everything private. We deliver checks to landlords, not individuals. But every once in a while, we’ll get an update telling us about the difference it made.”
For many they help, a temporary setback—such as a job loss, illness or sudden hardship—means one-time assistance is often enough to get back on their feet. And for Ruwe, she measures success in how these smallest acts of help, offered in someone’s darkest hour, can serve as a turning point—restoring stability, rebuilding a home and reigniting a lasting hope for a better future.
REALTOR® Stacey Ruwe, ABR, CRS, PMN, SRS, PSA, of City2Shore Gateway Group in Spring Lake, Mich., is the founder of Homeless Prevention Partners (Soup For ALL Inc. DBA).
