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14 GROUNDCOVER NEWS WARMING CENTERS Once again winter is upon us and the Daytime Warming Center is in full swing, serving the unhoused in Washtenaw County. As we all know, this winter made its presence known starting on Thanksgiving Day with frigid temperatures and it has been that way ever since, cold! At the end of the 2024-25 Daytime Warming Center, I wrote an article in the April 4, 2025 edition reflecting on my first year as a DWC staff member. Now, I want to invite Groundcover News readers to come visit the DWC. Before I explain why, I want to start by saying thank you to Zion Lutheran Church, Ann Arbor Friends Meeting House, First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor, Lord of Light Lutheran Church, St. Mary’s Student Parish, First Congregational Church of Ann Arbor, First Baptist Church of Ann Arbor and the Freighthouse in Ypsilanti for hosting the 2025-26 Daytime Warming Center. A brief history of the DWC In 2012, Peggy Lynch of Mercy House in Ann Arbor and Sheri Wander of Peace House in Ypsilanti were distraught seeing unhoused people with nowhere to go during significant portions of the day, especially in the winter. At that time the Delonis Center was a "high barrier" shelter. Folks had to breathalyze and drop a negative drug test to stay. A group of folks had been pushing the Ann Arbor City council to open a day shelter in one of the abandoned buildings but were not having any luck. Peggy and Sheri met with Father Dan Ream (who at the time was a priest at St. Mary's Student Parish) and asked if they could make use of the basement for a few weeks so folks could stay warm during the day. He said yes and the DWC was born. The first year it was run 100% by volunteers. Peggy noted that the philosophy of the DWC derived from the running of Camp Take Notice, a physical “tent-city” type camp on the outskirts of Ann Arbor, which closed in 2012. At CTN, the residents played the largest role in running and managing the camp. “When we started hearing about ‘polar vortexes,’ people experiencing homelessness — in community conversations — said we had to establish a place for people to be inside, out of the elements and in community,” Peggy said. The initial churches were mostly those who had a previous relationship with CTN, though staunch DWC supporter First Baptist Church was an exception. At the end of the season Father Dan agreed to encourage other churches to MIKE JONES Groundcover vendor No. 113 work with the nonprofit MISSION to host a day shetler but encouraged MISSION to hire a staff person to act as a communication link with the faith communities and help with de-escalation and conflict intervention The DWC ran in Ann Arbor for many years before there was an Ypsilanti location. Sheri had always advocated for a second space in Ypsi and became even more aware of the need when she moved from Mercy House to start Peace House. In 2019, CJ (an employee at the Delonis Center at the time) worked with the City of Ypsilanti and organized a day shelter at the Freighthouse run by the Shelter Association. After the first two years it was open in Ypsi, the DWC collective and MISSION took over the day-to-day running of the Freighthouse day shelter. In the years before the opening of the Daytime Warming Center, times were tough for the unhoused of Wash-tenaw County. A lot of homeless people lost their lives to the elements. In the late 2000s, a lot of homeless people committed suicide by jumping off the many Ann Arbor parking structures. After so many deaths, they started putting the chronically homeless in hotels and putting up fencing on all the parking structures, and offering day and overnight warming centers if temperatures (with wind chill) were below 10 degrees fahrenheit. How the DWC and its volunteers make a difference A person like me doesn't have to look at the numbers to tell you that homelessness has been increasing, and social and economic segregation has forced those unhoused to utilize the warming center services more, because places like Starbucks no longer allow people into their place of business if they don’t purchase anything. At the Daytime Warming Center all are welcome. People from all walks of life stop by to volunteer, donate or just to say hey, and communicate with the community as a whole. Local Left: Daytime Warming Center volunteers Phil, Ken and Mike help start the day with friendly smiles. Right: Susan, a Daytime Warming Center volunteer and member of St. Mary's Student Parish, serves lunch. businesses — such as Maiz Mexican Cantina, Mama Pizza and FedUp Ministries — donate food, and we at the Daytime Warming Center say thank you to all persons and businesses that help us to help our community. I ran into Lisa who has been volunteering at the DWC for four years. I asked her what made her want to volunteer at the DWC; her response was truly amazing. She said, “I applied for a job to be a staff member and was not hired.” That was not going to keep her from doing what she loves doing, helping others. So she became a volunteer. Lisa informed me that she is a psychiatric and drug abuse nurse, so being in an environment like a warming center is a comfortable space for her. I also met a volunteer named Diane who is a member of First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor. The Church asked her to coordinate the food because of her expertise (before she retired she worked in food service). This is the first time First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor has hosted the DWC and I asked her how she likes volunteering so far. She said, “It is really nice and I have met some really nice people.” She continued to express that she, and her fellow church volunteers, are honored to serve the unhoused community. Phil Huhn, who attends St. Mary’s Student Parish, has been volunteering at the DWC since January 2019. Huhn has been a dedicated volunteer who has contributed to the success of the DWC. I asked him what made him start doing volunteer work. He said, “I retired and found a need for my service at the DWC and stuck with it.” During our conversation he explained his enjoyment with communicating and helping those in need. The last question I asked him was, “Would you encourage others to volunteer at the DWC?” He said, “Yes, not just at the DWC, but to volunteer where you feel comfortable and needed.” I got a chance to talk to Sheri Wander who helped start the DWC and has been instrumental in helping to keep it running since then. I asked how she was enjoying her first year not being a staff member at the DWC. She said, “It's really hard; I miss it.” She expressed her confidence in the DWC staff members and their ability to keep things running smoothly through community engagement, communicating with guests and staff members to mitigate and solve problems, and making friendships while providing a place for people to feel and be safe. Peat, a long-time DWC staff member and now DWC Fundraising Coordinator, wanted to be sure to let Groundcover readers know that to volunteer you don’t have to sign up, you can come by anytime and volunteer and/ or bring clothes, food "and your sparkling personality!" To find out more, visit daytimewarmingcenter.org The overall message from those who work and volunteer at the DWC is that they enjoy it — and encourage people to do the same. I myself believe serving and doing for others is good for the soul. It’s always nice to see people taking care of one another. Shoutout to all the staff members and volunteers at the DWC, and shoutout to Pastor Taylor of St. Luke’s Episopal Church who hosts the Ypsilanti offsite overnight shelter. Thank you for all that you do! JANUARY 9, 2026 Volunteers wanted! Daytime Warming Center 2026

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