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4 GROUNDCOVER NEWS SHELTER AUGUST 21, 2026 "Uncertain:" winter shelter in Washtenaw County will look different this season Monday, August 3, Shelter Association of Washtenaw County Executive Director Nicole Adelman sent out an email sounding an alarm. With no direct ask to the public, the email announced that a newly-enforced building code at the Delonis Center will force a reduction in overnight winter capacity from “no one turned away” to just 52. On its busiest night last winter, the Shelter Association sheltered 242 people. Stagnating permanent supportive housing due to federal instability (as reported in July 24, 2026 edition), increased need due to welfare funding cuts and Medicaid and SNAP eligibility changes, and now a reduction in winter shelter beds by more than 50% — it doesn’t take an expert to understand this winter shelter season will have to look different from years past. On August 5, the Winter Shelter Task Force, a working group of the Washtenaw Continuum of Care, presented to the County Board of Commissioners in a similar tone to Adelman’s email. Since 2023, the task force has convened throughout the spring and summer to plan upcoming emergency winter seasonal shelter, divert shelter system inflow and ensure safety during the winter months, working in partnership with county staff. Amanda Carlisle, Executive Director of the Washtenaw Housing Alliance, walked the Commissioners through the 2026 Continuum of Care (CoC) grant changes and the potential $3M in jeopardy. Adelman, also a member of the task force, presented the shelter bed reduction, an overview of the winter shelter data from 2025-26, and potential actions for the Board. The ask from the County, framed as a “stop-gap” $1.5 million, was presented reflecting the deliberations of the task force. $1.5 million would respond to immediate emergency shelter demand this 2026-27 winter season. More investment – such as the purchase of a hotel and creating a second, permanent emergency shelter on the east side of the county – would support longer-term solutions historically avoided every year because of limited seasonal planning. The taskforce also suggested the County ask other municipalities (such as Ypsilanti Twp and Pittsfield Twp) to contribute funding or resources, talk to other counties about regional coordination (Warren closed its homeless shelter July 2026, increased criminalization in Jackson) and support mutual the same — 60 beds on the second, third, and fourth floors. The waitlist for a bed like this is, on average, 6-9 months. Those who do not have a residential LINDSAY CALKA Publisher aid groups that fill gaps. As reported August 7, County Commissioners allocated $100K to MISSION for the purposes of the Daytime Warming Center; this was just one item in the larger, $2.5 million resolution. Other allocations included: $700K in eviction prevention; this funds six months of SOS Community Services case management, and direct assistance dollars and administrative staff through the Office of Community and Economic Development’s Barrier Buster program. $120K for Rapid Rehousing for families; funding will go to SOS Community Services whose funding was in jeopardy due to the CoC grant mandates to defund permanent supportive housing. $50K for Western Washtenaw support; funding will likely be determined through a mini-grant Request for Proposal process. $215K for Overflow Shelter Staff; funding will be through SAWC for case management staff. $1.319M for Overflow Emergency Shelter — Shelter Association operational staff, Alpha House case management and operational staff, hotel rooms and other costs that come with hotel sheltering (transportation, food, security). The Board debated the merits of purchasing a hotel; many Commissioners recognized it as a fiscally responsible choice after many seasons of expensive, emergency hotel room sheltering in dangerous winter and summer climates. No decision regarding hotel purchase was made at the August 5 meeting, but the board ultimately approved $2.5M — almost double the “stop-gap” ask. So, what does all of this mean for the daily operations of winter shelters this season? Overnight shelter The Delonis Center’s residential program in downtown Ann Arbor will look bed will have the “option” to shelter on the first floor (now only 52 beds), or at the Ypsilanti offsite, which in years past has been housed at churches close to downtown, capped at 25 beds. The Shelter Association's men’s rotation program will also provide shelter to 25 participating sober men, contingent on partnership with congregation spaces. To replace the lost beds on Delonis’ first floor, the Shelter Association plans to contract with a local hotel to provide 65 rooms for roughly 100 individuals. It is still being determined how individuals will be chosen and when and where they should access this emergency overflow shelter. It is important to note that these options cannot be accessed by individuals trespassed from the Delonis Center, which historically increases throughout the winter season. At its peak, 80 individuals were trespassed last winter. Families will continue to shelter at Alpha House sites, but it is predicted that the Trinity Health site will be at capacity within the next few weeks. Alpha House will be using rooms at the hotel site for emergency shelter for 10-15 families. Shonagh Taruza, Executive Director of IHN at Alpha House, commented, “There are so many unknowns given the chaotic season we find ourselves in. We are doing our best to prepare for a tough winter, while hoping that the eviction prevention dollars, which are also a part of winter sheltering, will help keep families in their homes, the best outcome. We do know however that there are probably families who have already lost their housing who will show up in our system when the weather gets cold. "We have been working collaboratively with Delonis/SAWC, the BOC, the Winter Shelter Taskforce, and grassroots orgs like Peace House Ypsi and Fed Up Ministries on a true community response. The way we have all come together and are being proactive, gives me incredible hope for our community.” Daytime shelter For the first winter since the partnership with the City of Ypsilanti began in 2020, the Ypsilanti Freighthouse is not reserved for daytime warming this winter. Another change for the upcoming season is that the Shelter Association will be running a daytime shelter in both Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, in collaboration with congregation spaces. The Daytime Warming Center will be operating independently from the Shelter Association this year. The DWC staffing collective and community supporters are currently planning with the purpose of filling SAWC and Alpha House gaps and do not have concrete details to share at this time. Both daytime programs are scrambling for host sites. Story update: Injunction against CoC grant Proactive planning from service providers and government funders is a response to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s FY26 Continuum of Care grant solicitation. On August 7 Judge Mary Elroy from Rhode Island invalidated HUD’s FY26 CoC Notice of Funding Opportunity in its entirety, finding its development violated the Administrative Procedures Act. HUD lacks the statutory authority to shift away from permanent supportive housing and rapid rehousing as effective programs towards other activities unless they are “based on research and after notice and comment to the public, to have been proven effective at reducing homelessness generally, reducing homelessness for a specific subpopulation, or achieving homeless prevention and independent living goals.” Because HUD failed to conduct this notice and comment period, it violated the APA. “I am relieved for now that the harmful cuts to permanent housing, which this NOFO essentially required communities to make, are paused. But there is just a lot of uncertainty about the future of this funding, which provides critical resources that help people exit homelessness to housing,” commented Amanda Carlisle. HUD is under a Congressionally imposed deadline from the FY26 Consolidated Appropriations Act to make grant awards by December 1, 2026. Winter shelter programs are expected to start mid-November. An exact schedule and winter shelter plan will be released by SAWC and the Washtenaw County Office of Community Economic Development much closer to the November start date.

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