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From left to right, just a few of the residents of Bay Village Stanton: Noah Brown, Ashley Powell, Kalcey Boire, Manager Toni Mikula, Cindy Blankenship and Tim Arthur. The manufactured home community currently has 52 homes, 36 of which are occupied. Each tenant owns their own home and leases a lot with a yard. — DN Photo | Elisabeth Waldon
STANTON — A firefighter with three children and a crazy schedule, a nurse’s assistant with two young ones, a retired grandmother who wants to live near her family, a disabled man with a foot injury, a special needs couple, a teenager with autism … these are just a few of the residents who have found a welcoming home at Bay Village Stanton.
The property formerly known as the Stanton Mobile Home Park was purchased in 2022 by Michael Calin from Ruth Evenhouse. The community on Stanton’s north side has 52 manufactured mobile homes, 36 of which are currently occupied, according to Toni Mikula, the on-site manager. Each tenant owns their own home and leases a lot with a yard.
“We are located one block north of Save-A-Lot and a couple of blocks southwest of a medical complex, the local courthouse and a school, but we are surrounded on three sides by fields, forests and meadows, so it feels like living in the countryside,” Mikula noted.
Calin declined to comment for this story, asking that Mikula handle all communications. Mikula said Calin is a veteran and he has made it his mission to offer decent, affordable homes in a safe and friendly community. Bay Village Stanton offers a free month’s rent to veterans, first responders, police and firefighters who move there.
When Calin purchased the property, he brought in six new homes, four remodeled homes and fully renovated one that was already there. Another remodeled two-bedroom home will be arriving sometime within the next week and there are plans to add more.
“The demand for affordable housing is enormous right now,” Mikula said. “We are happy to be able to provide that for our community.”
‘WE HAVE EACH OTHER’S BACKS’
Ashley Powell is one of the newest residents at Bay Village Stanton. She moved there this past February with her three children, David, 13, Vidaliah, 5, and Novaleigh, 3.
Powell recently graduated from the Montcalm County Fire Academy and she works as an EMT for Montcalm County EMS in Stanton and as a firefighter for the Home Township Fire Department. She said she has enjoyed living at Bay Village Stanton so far, due in part to the nature-filled woods and trails her family has access to.
“This trailer park has been amazing in working with me attending the Fire Academy and working,” she said. “I am very grateful to be a community member here. Everybody seems very nice. My kids are close with the neighbor kids, they’re always coming over and playing in the yard. We’re right next to the woods, which is nice, the kids have trails through the woods, they’re always riding bikes. It’s got that country feel.”
Powell’s children attend Central Montcalm Public School, as do Kalcey Boire’s children, ages 5 and 1. Boire, who is a certified nurse’s assistant, has lived in Bay Village Stanton just over a year.
“I was struggling in that middle area of the low-income and medium-high income and I couldn’t find a match for a place to live,” Boire recounted. “With the low income, you make too much and the higher income, you have to make three times as much. Then I came here. I had really good credit, and I was able to come here. You can pay the mortgage and pay your lot rent until the mortgage is paid off and then you’re good.”
Boire described the community as a place where “everyone works together, all the kids play together. I help other people mow their yard if they can’t mow their yard. We donate clothes and food to each other. It’s a really good community where we all work together. We have each other’s backs.”
‘REALLY GOOD COFFEE’
Kyle and Manda VanConant have lived at Bay Village Stanton for about a year. They spent a warm and sunny Friday afternoon exploring their neighborhood (Kyle on bike, Manda on foot).
“I like to get out and just walk around and meet people and try to be friends with them,” Manda said.
“I like to help people out,” Kyle added.
The sociable couple both work through Mid-Michigan Industries (MMI), a nonprofit which helps provide employment opportunities to people with special needs: Kyle works for a box business while Manda just started a job at a newly opened coffee shop: Banker’s Brew located at 110 E. Main St. in the former Huntington Bank building in Stanton (the coffee shop is open from 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.).
MMI oversees the box business and the coffee shop, the latter of which Mikula also works at as assistant manager.
“It’s wonderful; it’s good food, sandwiches and stuff, and really good coffee,” Mikula said.
MMI is based in Mount Pleasant and has a Montcalm County branch at 110 E. Main St. in Stanton (the same building that houses the new coffee shop). Visit mmionline.com for more information about services the agency offers.
‘A TOLERANT NEIGHBORHOOD’
Tim Arthur is disabled and uses a cane to get around due to a longtime foot injury. He shares a home at Bay Village Stanton with a roommate who has a 14-year-old son with autism, Ray Holloway. Arthur said the community is a welcoming and accessible place for people who are disabled or have special needs, adding that Holloway plays outside here more than he did at a previous apartment.
“The whole neighborhood is really tolerant,” Arthur said. “The lawns here are a lot easier to mow than some places.”
Cindy Blankenship, who is retired, moved from Evart to Bay Village Stanton six months ago in part to be closer to her children and grandchildren. This spring she set about putting a personal touch on her new home, planting a colorful variety of flowers in container gardens throughout the front yard.
“I like it here,” she said. “It’s nice.”
Blankenship spent some time on Friday chatting with her neighbor, Noah Brown, a young man who has lived in the community for about a year. He works for Cooper Mechanical and he also has a lawnmowing business on the side.
“It’s quiet, it’s a good community,” Brown said. “People are here for each other.”
‘WORKING TOGETHER’
Those involved with Bay Village Stanton have worked to clean up and revitalize the area. They developed a Tenant Advisory Committee comprised of residents who want to be involved in their community, which led to a clean-up day, a community cook-out. Tenants spent the day cleaning and improving their yards and then enjoyed a potluck to share a meal and some laughs, along with treat bags for the kids. The event was coordinated with the city of Stanton’s own clean-up day, and the city’s Department of Public Works donated wood chips and top soil to any tenants who wanted to garden or landscape their yards; the DPW also stopped by and picked up an unwanted item that tenant volunteers were unable to lift into a truck.
“It was a great success and so much fun,” Mikula said of the event.
“Bay Village Stanton provides affordable housing options and has demonstrated a commitment to community growth by actively bringing in new homes,” Stanton City Manager Rachael Coffey told the Daily News. “They have also taken steps to enhance the quality of the park, further contributing to the community’s appeal.”
Local sisters Ann and Eve Witzel, who are involved in the Stanton American Legion, have also been involved in bringing fun activities to Bay Village Stanton and other local communities with a focus on vulnerable people, including a free Thanksgiving meal and a visit from Santa Claus last year.
“At Bay Village Stanton, we’re working together to make our community a nice place to live, raise a family and call home,” Mikula said. “We are working together to help those in need.”
For more information about Bay Village Stanton, call Mikula at (248) 515-3472 or email tonijamikula1967@gmail.com.
