Matthew’s House
Matthew’s House is seeking a Special Land Use permit from the Grand Rapids Planning Commission to relocate its day services to 1050 Leonard St. NW, within the West Leonard Business Corridor. Having outgrown its current location, the organization now has the opportunity to expand into a significantly larger space to better serve its community.
Below, we have provided detailed information and responses to common questions raised by neighbors. We invite you to review this material and encourage you to complete the survey located at the bottom of this page to share your feedback.
View of layout for the proposed location:
The proposed location has 8316.6 Square Feet of space. Their current location has 1386 Square feet of space.
The previous tenant of this location was Bibles for Missions Thrift/Legacy Thrift.
Matthew’s House has been asked by the City of Grand Rapids to develop a Good Neighbor Plan (GNP) and incorporate Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) strategies as part of the planning for this location. We will share these details on this page soon. Please check back regularly for updates.
This is the Good Neighbor Plan that Matthew’s House originally submitted with their Special Land Use Application.
The Updated Good Neighbor Plan that includes input and suggestions from community feedback including from the 4/28 meeting.
There have been many questions asked about the proposed move and as we get the answers to the questions we will post them below. Current Questions & Answers submitted:
Note: The questions were posed to us by neighbors. Sources for answers are from the Matthew’s House Special Land Use Application, Matthew’s House, the City of Grand Rapids, trained knowledge of CPTED, and known resources in the neighborhood.
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Outgrowing the Current Facility
If you go to their current location during their open hours you can see that the current space is bursting at the seams with people and because their current space is so small, people are waiting on sidewalks during the day.
The existing site currently lacks the space and infrastructure needed to adequately serve their expanding array of programs and clients.
Enhanced Facilities and Expanded Services
The new location at 1050 Leonard St NW offers an opportunity for significant improvements and expansion of services, including:
Basic Needs Support:
The new facility will offer food, clothing, laundry, and showers.
Life Skills and Educational Classes: Planned programming includes sewing, knitting, art classes, and eventually parenting classes.
Health and Social Services: The facility will house a counselor for mental health support, involve nursing students providing services, and offer case management for housing, job training, and substance abuse recovery.
Spiritual and Emotional Support: Regular Bible studies and spiritual counseling will be available.
Infrastructure Improvements
The Leonard location allows for critical upgrades that weren’t feasible at the current site, including:
Additional bathrooms and showers.
A kitchen for meal preparation.
Private offices for counseling.
A dedicated laundry room with six washers and dryers.
Energy-efficient renovations like updated windows.
Better Alignment with Community Needs
The new site, previously occupied by a thrift store, aligns well with the Ministry’s social service mission. The zoning classification (Traditional Neighborhood – Traditional Business Area) accommodates their intended use as a religious and social service facility.
Commitment to Community Integration
The ministry has committed to developing a robust Good Neighbor Plan, which includes:
On-site security and surveillance.
Clear behavioral expectations for guests.
A community liaison and regular neighborhood meetings.
Sustainability measures like composting for food waste.
In summary, the move to 1050 Leonard St NW is driven by the need for expanded capacity, improved facilities, and a location that better supports both operational goals and community integration. The new site will enable Matthew’s House to serve more individuals in a safer, more comprehensive, and sustainable manner.
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The new location will meet the needs of underserved neighbors and the unhoused community already present on the westside by providing a safe and welcoming daytime space. The building, previously occupied by a thrift store with limited operating hours, became available and was offered to Matthew’s House.
An added advantage of the new site is the availability of 24 parking spaces, which can accommodate volunteers, delivery drivers, and other visitors—an improvement over the current location, which only offers on-street parking.
The space will host resource navigation, meals, and wellness programming to address immediate and long-term needs.
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The expanded space at the new location will allow guests of Matthew’s House to wait comfortably indoors rather than forming lines outside, as is currently the case. This increased interior space will also help reduce congestion, potentially decreasing the number of police service calls.
Additionally, the Leonard Street corridor offers enhanced safety through better visibility and a greater number of surveillance cameras. Unlike the current site, which lacks sufficient external monitoring, this new location benefits from having “more eyes” on the area, further supporting a safer environment for guests and staff alike.
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Matthew’s House has been part of the West Grand Neighborhood for a significant amount of time and is well-acquainted with the needs of the community. Across the westside, many individuals experiencing homelessness are living in vehicles or in encampments, as local shelters are often at capacity. During the day, there are few safe and welcoming places for unhoused individuals to go.
The West Grand Neighborhood Organization (WGNO) works in close partnership with the Homeless Outreach Taskforce and maintains a current understanding of the locations and conditions of both active and former encampments on the westside.
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The new location is on a bus line and within walking distance of the Dash bus line which gives free bus service to downtown where the shelters are at.
Other services nearby are:
Oasis of Hope Center (a medical clinic at 522 Leonard St. for the uninsured)
The Northwest Food Pantry on 1222 Davis
West Grand Neighborhood Organization also operates a heating and cooling center for the unhoused that is within walking distance of the proposed location at 754 Leonard St NW. They also provide information for those looking for services.
The Grand Rapids Public Library - West Leonard Branch at 1017 Leonard St. NW. The unhoused use the public computers there to look for jobs, apply for housing and other services.
Catherine’s Health Center - 1211 Lafayette NE. Has both medical and behavioral health services, as well as a variety of health support services such as health insurance navigation, health coaching, medication assistance, and more!
While the proposed location would be further away from Cherry Health than their current location, it is still on a bus line that would enable people to get there fairly easy.
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CPTED is a multi-disciplinary approach to deterring criminal behavior through environmental design. CPTED focuses on enhancement of lighting, design of buildings and open spaces, to discourage criminals.
CPTED principles include:
Natural Surveillance: Designing spaces to allow for natural observation, making it easier for people to see and be seen.
Natural Access Control: Restricting access to certain areas or creating clear boundaries to deter unwanted entry.
Territorial Reinforcement: Creating a sense of ownership and responsibility for an area, making people feel more accountable for its safety.
Maintenance: Keeping spaces clean, well-maintained, and in good repair to prevent them from appearing abandoned or neglected.
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This is a snippet example of language from a City of Grand Rapids Good Neighbor Plan.
Standards for consideration in the development of a Good Neighbor Plan (Sec. 5.12.06.D.):
Some uses by the nature of the activities occurring within, on, or around the property on which they are located may have a deleterious impact on the neighborhood, business, or industrial district, or any area in which the facility is situated. Potential impacts associated with operations, and opportunities to mitigate those impacts, shall be taken into consideration in the development of a Good Neighbor Plan and Special Land Use request.
Considerations shall include:
The adverse effects, if any, that the hours of operation of the proposed establishment will have upon neighboring properties, with particular attention to the effects of noise, odors, litter, loitering, parking, and glare from exterior lighting or headlights on nearby residential properties.
The amount and degree of law enforcement activities which could reasonably be anticipated to be generated by the proposed establishment, both outside and inside, with particular emphasis upon noise, calls for service, trespass enforcement, parking, vehicular use by patrons, and vandalism.
Whether the proposed use makes adequate provisions to eliminate the potential for adverse impacts upon the stability of adjacent areas by depreciating the desirability of the property or nearby properties by the placement of the use; or, conversely, the exacerbation of price escalation in rents or values that would result in the displacement of residents or businesses and how the requested use might reasonably protect the surrounding area so as not to have an adverse impact.
How the proposed use balances mobility options so as insure increased access and opportunity for those who might not own or be able to operate a vehicle, and to avoid an excessive parking burden or increased congestion in the general area.
NOTE: Compliance with the GNP would be a condition of approval. If they are not in compliance with the condition of approval, the city would go up the ladder of enforcement (Notice of Compliant, Notice of Violation with fee, misdemeanor, etc.). Their SLU approval could also be revoked.
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Per city ordinance:
Notification. Notice shall be provided at least fourteen (14) days prior to the neighborhood meeting by a postcard delivered by mail, for all addresses within a three hundred-foot radius of the subject property. This notice shall comply with the requirements of Section 5.12.06.C.1.c.
So if your residence fell outside that 300 foot radius from 1050 Leonard St. NW, you may not of gotten notification of the prior meeting. Matthew’s House did have to provide a list of the address they delivered notice to in their Special Land Use Application and it is included in their packet.
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No, in their Special Land Use Application they are not asking to house people at the potential site. Their daily operations would wrap up at 4 PM per what the application states.
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It would revert back to the owner of the property. It will be up to the owner to decide what to do with the property after that.
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The revised Good Neighbor Plan will address this concern based on neighbor feedback. It will be posted very soon!
In the meantime, there has been a commitment from Matthew’s House to have security on staff, they will have an agreement for program participants about being good neighbors, they would also have security cameras on the property that would have voluntary access given to the GRPD. This is just a few of the suggestions, we will post the full revised version soon!
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Their current location is also within walking distance of several bars and a party store. This would be the case in any other location in the city as there are over 400+ bars in the City of Grand Rapids.
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Matthew’s House does currently send volunteers out daily to go around the block to pick up trash. We have asked them to start doing it twice daily and they have agreed to do so.
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Per the April 28th meeting, Pastor George stated on a daily basis Matthew’s House gets anywhere from 60-100 people daily for various resources, food, laundry, showers, etc. Not all of them are homeless, some are homeowners and renters that are neighbors in this neighborhood.
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90% of staff live in the area and can walk to work.
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The businesses and organizations that donate food to Matthew’s House for community distribution are:
Target - Cascade and Alpine
Gordon Food Services
Fresh Thyme
Canteen
Jehovah Jireh Ministries of West Michigan
Sandy’s Donuts
Duncan Donuts
195,000 pounds of food is diverted from landfills a year.
May not be a complete list, but these are the main ones.
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Per what had been stated during the April 28 meeting, the estimated time for construction is unknown at this time. It depends on how the process moves along.
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The library has not taken an official stance. However, all Grand Rapids Public Libraries and the Kent District Libraries are listed as warming/cooling centers. They already provide services to our unhoused population and have done so for years. All residents use their resources, including computers for finding employment, getting access to services from many agencies that help them require an email address or computer access for applications. See: https://endhomelessnesskent.org/warming-centers-in-west-michigan/
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Basic Needs Services: Food pantry, clothing distribution, showers, and laundry facilities.
Support Programs: Life skills classes, mental health counseling, substance abuse support, and job training.
Community Engagement: Hosting workshops, public art installations, and collaboration with local organizations.
Children’s Activities that have been held at Matthew’s House included:
When Stocking School was still open Matthew’s House had provided Art Classes for students from Stocking with a grant from the Grand Rapids Community Foundation Dream Fund.
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Matthew’s House is committed to increasing transparency and strengthening its strategic direction. The organization will:
Publish an Annual Report.
Make its IRS Form 990 publicly available on its website.
Additionally, a third-party will conduct a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats), the findings of which will inform a comprehensive five-year strategic plan. This plan will not only enhance organizational operations but also aim to improve conditions in the surrounding neighborhood.
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There are two notable differences if Matthew’s House relocates to the West Leonard Business Corridor:
The corridor currently benefits from a weekly trash pickup program, supported by volunteers and community service workers — a service not available in the residential area where Matthew’s House is currently located.
In the coming months, new trash receptacles will be installed at various points along the corridor, further enhancing litter management. This infrastructure is also not present at the current location.
Together, these features offer practical sanitation and maintenance benefits unique to the business corridor.
NOTE: These are existing efforts and do not include what Matthew’s House has agreed to in their Updated Good Neighbor Plan.
Please NOTE: Questions and Answers are still being added.
Upcoming Meetings
Click Image to see Agenda and other documents such as their Special Land Use application and supporting documentation.
This is what a Notice of Public Hearing looks like. It typically is mailed by the city to neighbors in a 300 foot radius of the potential location asking for a special land use. Neighbors should have received them in their mail boxes.
Timeline of Meetings Related to Matthew’s House Special Land Use Application
March 10 – Initial Community Meeting Hosted by Matthew’s House
Matthew’s House organized a community meeting at the proposed new location. In accordance with city requirements, they notified neighbors within a 300-foot radius. Notification details were submitted to the city and included in the application packet available on the city’s website.
March 17 – West Grand Neighborhood Organization (WGNO) Community Meeting
The WGNO board of directors reviewed the Matthew’s House Special Land Use Application. Local residents were in attendance and had the opportunity to provide input.
April 21 – Planning for Expanded Community Engagement
At the WGNO community meeting, the board and staff decided to host a dedicated community discussion at a larger venue. The goal was to address neighbor concerns, share verified information from multiple sources, and collect feedback through a community survey.
April 28 – Matthew’s House Community Discussion with External Facilitation
WGNO hosted a facilitated community discussion with representatives from the City Planning Department, Grand Rapids Police Department Westside Service Captain, and the Grand Rapids Fire Department. Outreach efforts included social media, door-to-door flyers, a newsletter to over 500 residents, and media engagement. Attendance was limited due to fire safety regulations. At least 176 neighbors were in attendance.
May 8 – City of Grand Rapids Public Hearing
The City of Grand Rapids will hold an official public hearing for Matthew’s House’s Special Land Use Application.