Pastor Monique French outlines Recover Our Neighborhood plan, says 17 homes are planned in Battle Creek

Lanae Wells, with Align Planning, interviewed Pastor Monique French of Washington Heights United Methodist Church about the church’s role in the city of Battle Creek’s housing strategic plan. French said the church’s nonprofit runs a program called Recover Our Neighborhood that supports neighborhood beautification, energy-efficient repairs for existing homeowners and small-scale housing development.

“Recover our Neighborhood is a project that has several different branches,” Pastor Monique French said, describing the program’s three areas of work. She said one branch focuses on beautification and adding amenities, another on energy-efficient repairs intended to help current homeowners avoid being forced out, and a third on building homes.

“Another branch is the, small housing development that we're doing. We're trying to look at build 17 new homes,” French said, identifying the interview location as one of the houses connected to the project. French framed the repairs work as helping residents remain in-place by upgrading homes to be more energy efficient.

Wells asked how community members can help. French invited volunteers and donors, saying they are “always looking for people” with skills or the desire to volunteer. She encouraged those interested in purchasing the house to contact the church or realtor Karen Woods and provided a phone number and email for follow-up.

Pastor Monique French provided the church phone number as (269) 968-8773 and gave an email address in the interview; the address is presented here in standard format as pastormoniquefrench@gmail.com. Funding sources and timelines for the 17-home target were not specified in the interview.

The conversation was presented as part of Align Planning’s work on a housing strategic plan for the city of Battle Creek. Community members seeking to volunteer, donate or learn about home-sale opportunities were directed to contact Washington Heights United Methodist Church or realtor Karen Woods.