WARREN, Mich. – Residents of manufactured housing in a Southeast Michigan community are taking a rare step and forming a resident union.
It comes after Local 4 reported on a series of stories about issues plaguing communities across the region.
“Join the resident-union. We will be there for you,” Mike Whitty, the director of the resident-union and Mr. Mike’s Neighborhood, said when reading a sign displayed in his front yard.
When you pull up to Whitty’s home at Lafayette Place in Warren, you’ll hear some old tunes and get that familiar wave.
His mission is simple.
“The service standpoint. Creating programs to be able to bring neighbors together,” he said.
Whitty and Linda Varee, the assistant director, who lives across the street, wave at neighbors every day passing by.
They set out free items and food for people in the neighborhood to come out and grab each weekend.
But, this past month, they decided it was time to go from kindness to collective action.
“Mr. Mike’s Neighborhood’s resident-union. It’s got a registration form that they can fill out. It’s got our mission statement on the other side, and then over here, three reasons to join,” he said, describing the pamphlet given to neighbors.
They believe it’s the first union of its kind. Residents can register online or with Mike for $40 per family every year. As the group grows, Whitty and his team will create committees and bylaws.
“Neighbors can have a place that they could, within the law, and comfortably, without fear of retaliation, which was a big one for us — to be able to say the things that were on their mind and be able to have the type of quality of life that they wanted to,” he said.
Local 4 has reported about issues people are facing at manufactured housing communities across the region – like rising lot rent, concerns about quality of water, and the ability to go to park management for help.
Now, they’re hoping this becomes a blueprint. It’s something other neighborhoods can borrow, build on, and bring home.
“If they want to do something, and even if they want to just look into it, they will have a place free of charge – and we are not going to charge for any of the training on how to set this up because it’s our gift to the world,” Whitty said.