Indianapolis, IN…On March 14, 2008, the Federal Housing Finance Board announced the appointment of Christine A. Coady to the open appointed director position on the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis' (FHLBI) board, for a term ending December 31, 2010. Ms. Coady has been designated by the Finance Board as an FHLBI Community Interest Director. Ms. Coady is the President and CEO of Michigan Interfaith Trust Fund, Lansing, MI, and has served in that position since October of 2004. She has held various positions with the Trust since 1989. Ms. Coady has also served two terms on the City Council of Mason, MI. 

 Ms. Coady earned her BA in organizational development from Spring Arbor University, Spring  Arbor, Michigan, in 1994.  

Focus:HOPE was founded in 1968 by the Rev. William Cunningham, a Catholic priest, and Eleanor Josaitis, a Downriver housewife, in the aftermath of the 1967 Detroit race riot. The mission was to bridge the social, economic and racial divides of the Detroit area. On its campus on Oakman Boulevard in Detroit, Focus: HOPE offers social services and technical job training.

Williamston officials are working with the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) to get a grant that would help revitalize the historic National Block Hotel. One option for the hotel includes creating a mixed-use space with retail on the first floor and office and residential housing on the second and third floors.

The One D vision for quality of life centers around arts and culture, parks, greenspaces and healthcare. That seemed pretty representative to me until I spoke with Kerry. She immediately said that if she was asked what Qualify of Life meant to her, she would think of a rich and lively after five (no pun intended) scene--lots of places to go, things to do, people engaging in a lively night life.

I found this interesting. Quality of Life is pretty subjective for all of us, I guess.    But if we are putting a lot of stock in the millennial population keeping our region healthy, vibrant and growing, I wonder if we need to tweak how we look at this as One D and as a region to coincide with the other goals we have on attracting and retaining this "holy grail" of demographics.

The D might not be Grand Rapids yet, but sustainable architecture and construction is becoming less of an anomaly around here. WARM Training offers energy audits and its Southwest Detroit office serves as a green building showcase. The second phase of affordable housing in North Corktown will be built with an eye to energy efficiency. Blue Cross Blue Shield has built the first-in-the-nation LEED-certified parking garage. Developers are installing geothermal heating and cooling systems into Brush Park condos as well as commercial rehabs. The Park Bar uses LED lighting, a technology which is also planned for Foran's and Eph's. Even the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center has gone green...maybe there's hope yet for this town's environmental cred.

Here's a new toolkit for Michigan residents and community leaders who are convinced that healthy arts and culture are crucial to healthy Michigan communities which are, in turn, crucial to attracting and retaining talented workers who can help assure Michigan's economy thrives.

The toolkit, from ArtServe Michigan, is packed with facts and figures about Michigan arts and culture and helpful tips for those seeking to advocate for better arts funding from state government.