Avalon Housing crossed 500 affordable homes created in Washtenaw County for the first time this year, interim co-executive director Scott Ellis said.

The organization's newest building, Dunbar Tower in Kerrytown, will hold a free public open house and ribbon-cutting at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11. The 63-unit building is a co-development with the Ann Arbor Housing Commission. A ground-floor public art and creative space will open that day as well, according to interim co-executive director Scott Ellis in a Sept. 14 interview on 89.1 WEMU.

Residents began moving into Dunbar Tower in early 2026. Martez Claybren, a Detroit native, musician and housing case manager at the Washtenaw County Shelter Association, moved in during March under the building's artist preference program. In an August interview on Avalon's blog, Claybren said the need for affordable housing keeps growing: "We hit record numbers in the shelter this year, so the need's definitely there."

Founded in 1992, Avalon Housing serves about 1,000 tenants and clients across 30 properties in Ann Arbor, Dexter and Chelsea. The nonprofit uses a housing-first model, providing permanent homes paired with on-site support services for people experiencing chronic homelessness or severe health vulnerabilities. Interim co-executive director Molly Smith, a licensed clinical social worker who has been with Avalon for close to 13 years, said the approach starts with stable housing rather than requiring residents to complete treatment programs first.

The need is acute. Homelessness in Washtenaw County has increased 118% since 2022, Ellis said. Avalon has 174 new affordable homes in its pipeline across four projects, according to its 2025 Impact Report: 63 at Dunbar Tower, 50 at the Grove at Veridian, 39 at Hickory Way and 22 at 206 N. Washington St. in Ypsilanti. The Ypsilanti building, a former burned-out structure Avalon worked with the city to secure, is set for its first move-ins on Oct. 1.

Avalon's service staff met with tenants and clients more than 25,000 times in fiscal year 2025, and the organization keeps 96% of its residents housed year to year, according to the impact report.

The broader push has local financial backing. Ann Arbor voters approved the Affordable Housing Millage in November 2020 with 73% of the vote, setting a goal of 1,500 affordable homes over 20 years. A five-year report from the city, released July 30, showed 537 apartments added or under construction and $30.7 million in millage funding deployed between 2021 and 2026. Dunbar Tower is among the projects supported by that funding.

Jennifer Hall, executive director of the Ann Arbor Housing Commission, said in the July report that the millage is on pace to exceed its target. "With 15 years left on the millage, it's more than likely that we will not just meet the goal of 1,500 units, but exceed it," Hall said.

Ellis acknowledged that federal funding uncertainty has strained the housing sector. About a year before the September interview, the federal government attempted to pull back roughly 70% of its funding for permanent housing. The Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners stepped in to cover the gap. A subsequent lawsuit struck down the federal pullback and funding restarted, Ellis said.

The open house is free and open to the public.