If you’ve ever been fortunate enough to have a conversation with or read an interview with our co-founders, John Vander Wagen III or Leigh Cobrun, you’ll know that Homeward Bound Villages was born out of need. Both men often recount their work with our area’s unhoused populations, who worked hard to rebuild their lives, had steady jobs, and were doing everything “right,” yet could not find a place to live. These individuals were often stuck in shelters because affordable housing either didn’t exist or was so scarce that finding it was almost impossible. This is how Homeward Bound Villages came to be, and how our mission to create community through affordable housing began.
For more than a decade, our organization’s focus has been on bringing affordable housing to La Porte County. And by affordable, we mean truly affordable, where people could stay for the long term and not be priced out, and where the homes are quality, and meant to create community.
In 2025, we were fortunate enough, after years of fundraising, to break ground at Karwick Village, La Porte County’s first co-operative, forever-affordable rental community. As the first six homes at Karwick Village were built, our goal of providing affordable homes to La Porte County residents was finally within reach. It was time to work on the framework for future residents, the application process, and the requirements for living at Karwick Village. We held a series of informational seminars for interested residents to explain what cooperative living at Karwick Village would be like. After the seminar, we invited potential residents to submit applications.
We knew the need for affordable housing in La Porte County was great, but the number of applications submitted for the six units was heartbreaking. Each application represented a story, a need, and a person or small family. From the applications, we selected individuals who met the residency criteria at Karwick Village and interviewed each potential resident. The stories we heard were difficult, people living in terrible conditions, and the need for stable, affordable housing was incredibly great, yet we only had six units. Through our selection committee, we selected our first six residents, leaving so many others we could not help.
Through the generous community support of partners, donors, and funders, we were able to make Karwick Village possible and help those that we could with this round of units, and for that, we will be forever grateful. Now six families reside at Karwick Village, creating community through affordable housing. Our mission is living, breathing, and thriving, thanks to our community that believes safe, stable housing is possible here.
The Need Is Great:
We know that La Porte County has a deficit of more than 1400+ affordable rental units. These aren’t simply empty units to be built; they’re homes for families with roots in our community. These are homes for those who work at our grocery stores, in our schools, work in our restaurants, and work as home health aides. In the 2025 Out of Reach Report published last year, they stated that 14 out of the top 20 most common occupations do not pay a housing wage, meaning enough to afford housing.
In a blog post from 2025, entitled The Affordable Housing Emergency in La Porte County: A Call for Urgent Action, we shared the following information,
“The numbers tell a sobering story. According to the recently released “Out of Reach” report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition and Prosperity Indiana, a full-time worker in Indiana must earn $22.18 per hour to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment at Fair Market Rent (Source: Out of Reach – Indiana 2025). Yet the average renter’s wage in our state is only $18.05 per hour, creating a $4.13 hourly gap that leaves thousands of working families struggling to keep a roof over their heads.
This crisis hits La Porte County particularly hard. As Center Township Trustee Lisa Pierzakowski, who is deeply involved in addressing these challenges, puts it bluntly: “Affordable rental housing remains in critically short supply in La Porte County, it’s virtually nonexistent for low-income households and limited even for moderate-income families.”
Recent housing studies, including ones supported by the Health Foundation of La Porte, support Lisa’s assessment. La Porte is short over 700 rental properties, with county-wide shortages exceeding 660 workforce units and over 240 affordable units, according to Lisa, who cites estimates from Health Foundation-supported studies.”
These statistics help paint a picture of the affordable housing landscape in our community. While efforts are underway to bring more affordable housing to La Porte County, the need remains.
How you Can Help:
There are practical ways in which you can support affordable housing in our community. Here are a few ways to start today:
Learn About Affordable Housing: Learn about the terms, the living wage, the housing wage, subsidized vs. non-subsidized housing, and the history of affordable housing and zoning. As you begin to learn about these concepts, terms, and the practicalities and benefits of having affordable housing in our community, it is impossible not to want to help.
Advocate for Affordable Housing: Contact your elected leaders and champion affordable housing. So many times, affordable housing has an unfair reputation. Community members will remonstrate against it in some cases; this is where supporters of affordable housing are so desperately needed. Pay attention to local zoning laws and zoning reforms.
Volunteer: Get involved with local housing nonprofits trying to bring affordable housing to the community. We have volunteer opportunities to work directly with residents at Karwick Village, support fundraisers, maintenance and repair work, and resident education, or serve on our board of directors.
Give Funds: One of the most impactful ways to support affordable housing construction is to donate to housing nonprofits such as Homeward Bound Villages. Construction is expensive, and communities and housing cannot be built without community support.
While we have made a start with six families at Karwick Village, who will be able to set down roots because our units will remain forever affordable, the need in our community is still significant. We encourage you to learn all you can about the issues and talking points surrounding affordable housing, because when we are inclusive as a community, our entire community benefits.
