Michigan agencies seek long-term solutions for the state’s 61K homeless residents

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by MLive.

By Ryan Boldrey | rboldrey@mlive.com

More than 61,000 Michiganders experienced homelessness in 2019, according to a report released earlier this year by Ending Homelessness in Michigan.

With a pandemic creating uncertainty for more individuals and families in 2020, some cities such as Kalamazoo, have partnered with area nonprofits and government agencies to create intervention programs, housing homeless residents in local hotels and motels. The programs help people get people off the streets in the short-term, but also aim to address underlying issues associated with homelessness, such as mental health and substance abuse.

“Certain programs are put in place as temporary measures, because they are that emergent need, kind of that Band-Aid approach,” said Eric Hufnagel, executive director of the Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness.

“So, now you have to be thinking, ‘What is the next phase for folks?” he said.

With funds on the way through the American Rescue Plan, Hufnagel said an opportunity exists to do more than just lease out motels for short periods of time, like nonprofits have done in Kalamazoo. The influx of federal funding could help communities purchase and transform those properties into long-term, supportive affordable housing units where those most in need can receive wraparound services as well as a place to live, he said.

Affordable housing remains a major issue for Michiganders. Of the state’s households, 38% are either below the federal poverty line or one emergency room trip, broken-down car or job loss away from being there, said Mike Larson, president and CEO of the Michigan Association of United Ways.

Larson pointed to pre-pandemic data released in the organization’s annual ALICE report (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed), which said two-thirds of that 38% are working households living above the poverty line but still do not make enough to afford basic household necessities. The other third, many of them employed, live below the federal poverty line.

“This is only getting escalated during COVID,” Larson said. “The reality is that, if you can’t make ends meet already, the housing, the childcare, the costs are just out of range for a lot of people. And what we’re finding, in many communities — housing options just don’t exist.”

Hufnagel said the federal eviction moratorium that has been in place since the beginning of the pandemic has helped maintain housing for a lot of people who would otherwise be homeless. The 61,832 people without housing in 2019 represents a decrease from the more than 65,000 homeless Michiganders counted in 2018, according to data in the Ending Homelessness in Michigan report.

But with the moratorium set to end June 30, agencies across the state are already beginning to see an increase in calls from people concerned about their housing.

“It’s not just about getting people housed today,” Hufnagel said. “It’s about what’s going to happen down the road. This is going to continue to be an issue we are having at the state if we aren’t serious about developing an adequate housing stock, affordable or otherwise.

“You can have programs in place. You can have the staff, the resources available, but if you can’t find the housing ... none of those resources mean a thing.”