Dwelling Place of Grand Rapids
Mariely Meza, MBA, serves as a Housing & Community Development Associate at Dwelling Place of Grand Rapids since November 2020, and has held various roles including Property Manager and Assistant Property Manager. Prior experience includes a Development Intern position at Mission India, where responsibilities involved administrative and relational activities within the Development Services team. Mariely also held roles as a Spanish Conversation Leader and Student Development Assistant at Cornerstone University, where duties included tutoring and welcoming students. Academically, Mariely obtained a Master of Business Administration with a focus on Project Management from Cornerstone University, following a Bachelor's degree in International Business and Finance from the same institution. Educational background includes attendance at multiple high schools, culminating in a diploma from Abundant Life Christian School.
Dwelling Place of Grand Rapids
Dwelling Place improves the lives of people by creating quality affordable housing, providing essential support services and serving as a catalyst for neighborhood revitalization. Since 1980, we have worked diligently to improve the quality of housing and to prevent the displacement of downtown Grand Rapids' low-income residents. At first, we worked building by building, turning vacant or dilapidated buildings into safe, quality apartments. We started block by block and then street by street, until now, we are tackling the revitalization of neighborhoods. Dwelling Place remains staunchly committed to providing support services to neighbors struggling with issues surrounding homelessness. Often, the underlying cause for homelessness is mental illness, physical and learning disabilities, poverty, domestic violence and substance abuse. The Dwelling Place Resident Support Services Program has a team of highly-qualified, well-trained staff who provide services, hand-in-hand with many community organizations, to more than 300 individuals and families, at any given time. Over the past few years, Dwelling Place has developed the resources to undertake neighborhood revitalization on a much larger scale. Our neighborhood revitalization efforts infuse neglected neighborhoods with businesses, transform blighted areas through rehabilitation efforts, and create destinations by establishing interesting attractions and events.